The New Secretary
by HyperMint
Summary: Team Seven gets a new secretary.
1. Monday, May 23, 2011

Buck Wilmington sighed happily as he stretched and entered the elevator.

It was going to be a great day, he could tell. JD Dunne, his young roommate, had had to go in a little early and they didn't have to be in at the usual time.

It was a Monday and even their undercover agent, Ezra Standish, would probably be in before his usual time around eleven. They always had a meeting on any Monday that there was no outstanding cases that needed their immediate attention or when all were at the office and not at court.

As the elevator opened to let him out on the eleventh floor, Buck was actually looking forward to seeing the guys. Whistling, he headed down the hall and rounded the corner to see a brunette seated at the desk just outside the office door. "Mornin', Darlin'," he grinned as bespectacled grey eyes turned upward to stare at him.

"Er, hello…?"

It wasn't until Buck was waiting for his computer to start and sipping on some coffee that he registered the anomaly. He turned wide blue eyes to the door and was about to stand when Chris Larabee finally stuck his head out to call a meeting.

"But -" he protested as Nathan Jackson towed him into the conference room. "Nathan, who -?"

"We aren't sure what the deal is," the medic told him. "Chris is going to explain."

"I thought we weren't going to have a secretary," JD told them. Chris had once told them that they didn't need to have one, even though all the other teams did.

As they settled into their respective seats, the aforementioned secretary slipped into an extra seat before Chris closed the door and surveyed them.

Josiah Sanchez had a stack of files in front of him and was curiously studying the girl while trying not to.

Nathan was picking apart a muffin and kept glancing at her as Ezra did the same on her right.

JD was frowning at her as Vin Tanner twirled a pencil around, seemingly uninterested though Chris knew better.

"Alright, fellas," Chris ran a hand through his short blond hair. "Here's the deal. This," he waved at her, "is AJ Johnson. She'll be working with us for the Secretary Swap."

The annual Swap was conducted between the FBI and the ATF offices of Denver. It was morale for the secretaries and, at the beginning of the year, a raffle was held to determine fifty participants that would set up shop at the other office for one month. It was also designed to cultivate a stronger relationship with the other office.

"But wait," Nathan held up a finger. "All of the fifty secretaries take their counterparts' places and there's no reason why we should have one."

"Well, that's what's _supposed _to happen. Evidently, someone screwed up and her name was drawn out by mistake. So, they had to put her somewhere that wasn't already taken. The one thing that makes this even the most remotely tolerable is that she's already experienced with a team."

"AJ, right?" JD was feeling sympathetic now that it was all explained. "I'm JD," he reached over to shake her hand. "Welcome to the team."

She smiled shyly as they shook. "Thanks," she ducked her head. "I hope I'm not being too much of a bother to you guys… I didn't know about the Swap cause I joined the Bureau around this time last year."

"Didn't you know about it when they did the raffle at the beginning of the year?" he wanted to know.

"I… I wasn't present when they did the raffle," she hesitantly admitted. "I had been hit with the flu and was still recovering at home. I found out about it a month ago."

"Typical of them," Buck rolled his eyes. "No relevant warning before springing a surprise on a body."

"Well, Ms. Johnson," Ezra's Southern tones took on a soothing quality as understanding lit green eyes. "Allow me to join Mr. Dunne in welcoming you to our band of renegades."

"Temporarily," Nathan smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Johnson. I know we didn't want one, but I'm sure we can work with you."

Her smile dimmed. "I'm sure I can work with you, too," she told him. "I really am sorry to be a bother."

"Don't worry about it," Buck waved her apology away. "Not like you planned it."

Vin nodded, having felt like a bother when he was still in the foster system. He didn't want anyone else to feel unwanted, even if it was a result of a screw-up. _Especially _if it was the result of a screw-up. "Vin," he told her. "JD's our tech guy and Ezra's our undercover agent. Buck, over there, is one of our explosives experts. Chris is the leader, Nathan's the medic and Josiah's our profiler. I'm translator, one of the other explosives experts, and sniper."

"Yeah, and watch your back around this one," Buck sniped. "He's a prankster."

"And don't drink his coffee," JD wrinkled his nose. "Or Josiah's. Well, unless you like battery acid…"

"And Chris is really just a kitten," Buck added. "So don't be scared of him. He just likes growling a lot."

"And you may want to stock up on headache medicine," JD advised. "Ezra has a habit of playing dictionary and sometimes Josiah doesn't understand him either."

Said Southerner just tapped a figure to his temple in his trademark salute.

"And don't take anything they tell you with a grain of salt," Chris glared. "Troublemakers, all of them."

"Aw, shucks, Hoss," Buck laughed. "You sure know how to make a guy feel special."

"Yeah, yeah…"

"So, Johnson," Nathan waited until grey eyes latched onto him. "Are there any allergies that we need to know about? Food allergies or medicine?"

"Well, oranges sort of upset my stomach so I don't eat them," she shrugged. "If I do, I'm pretty much useless for the rest of the day. I haven't yet encountered a medication that I couldn't handle, but that's about it. Uh, if you don't mind, I'd like to know about your own food allergies so I know what not to eat."

"You can eat it, but make sure we know what it is," Chris told her. "I'm not really into persimmons, but I'm not allergic to it."

JD lifted a shoulder. "I'll eat anything."

"Me, too," Vin nodded.

"Strawberries," Josiah piped up.

"Clams," Buck added.

Nathan thought for a minute. "Nothing I'll be coming into contact with unless someone wants to go out of their way."

Ezra smiled slightly. "No food, but bees make me wary."

"Okay," she nodded. "I'll remember it."

"Why?" Buck grinned. "Don't like us already?"

"I've got enough problems without being accused of attempted murder," she shrugged. "Especially since we belong to different agencies and I can tell you don't like it."

"Well, Darlin'," Buck smoothed his mustache. "That ain't it, per se…"

"At least you don't seem to be judgmental," JD told her. "Ez used to be a Fed, too."

"In Atlanta, I heard," she nodded. Seeing the surprise, she explained, "When we found out where I would be placed, the team I worked with made me research your histories. So that I know who I'm dealing with, they told me."

"I can see that," Chris expected nothing less from Agent Roland Lowe. "It's good to see Lowe taking initiative in prepping his team for unknown territory."

"Lowe?" Vin straightened. Blue eyes studied AJ. "You work with Lowe? He's pretty good in Civil Rights."

"One of the best," Nathan grinned.

"Really?" JD had heard of Agent Lowe. Lowe was one of his idols. "What's he like?"

Grey eyes turned downward. "He works us all hard… and it sometimes feels like he does it intentionally, but he's a good guy who knows how to motivate us."

Chris nodded. "Sounds like him."

"As much as I'm entertained by this tête-à-tête," Ezra suddenly interrupted. "Lady, Gentlemen, I believe my time is limited."

"Oh, right," Buck scratched his head. "You have court this afternoon, don't you?"

"Johnson," Chris nodded. "Welcome to the team for however long you'll be here for and I hope we'll work well together."

"Thanks, sir."


	2. Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Disclaimer: I only own AJ and everything that hasn't already been established by either the tv show or the ATF alternate universe.

* * *

Josiah hummed as he perused the donut selection at his favorite bakery. It was his turn to bring in breakfast and he took his turn very seriously.

'Let's see,' he looked it over. 'Chris wants a blueberry one, JD and Vin want chocolate, Nathan wants plain, Buck wants jelly filled, and Ezra wants éclair. I'll have one of those cinnamon ones…' He blinked as he remembered they had an eighth now. 'Sister Johnson… hmm. What would she like?'

On the one hand, she could like donuts and he could pick out one of the chocolate ones or blueberry. But on the other hand, she may not like donuts and take offense to the insinuation. Some women were like that. But then, she may not like any of it and eat it anyway just to make him feel better…

"Okay, not donuts. Decision's down to muffins and bagels… but then she may not like them either…" In the end, Josiah opted for a safe decision of cinnamon twists. Well, one cinnamon and one blueberry.

Nodding, he left the bakery with his goodies and arrived at the office minutes later.

"Ah," he rounded the corner and spied their temporary teammate typing away already. "Sister! Could I interest you in joining me in the break room?"

She looked up and blinked. "Sure," she nodded. Standing, she let Josiah lead the way and they entered the main offices where all but Ezra were and no one expected him for another hour at least.

"About time," Buck grinned, getting up to follow. The others went with him.

AJ didn't seem to know what was going on, so JD explained, "Josiah's turn to get donuts."

"Donuts?" she stared.

"We all get a turn buying for the team," JD reached into the box and picked out his choices. "I'm not really sure how that started, but it's a tradition."

AJ was thinking about this when Josiah offered the twists on a small paper plate, one that came from a bunch of different ones that somehow seemed to constantly appear on the counter next to the microwave.

"I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I made a guess," he watched as she took the plate and quietly studied the small pastries.

"Josiah didn't poison it, Darlin'," Buck laughed as she sniffed it.

It looked like she desperately wanted to say something about that, but she shook her head instead. "I know. But cinnamon smells so good in the mornings."

"No arguing here," Vin toasted her with his coffee.

"It smells good any time, though, right?" JD's brow furrowed.

"I like it in the morning," AJ shrugged. "Um, thanks."

"Not a problem."

AJ studied him for a minute. "Would you like some lunch?"

"Maybe tomorrow, Sister," Josiah waved a hand. "I have plans this afternoon."

"Yeah," Buck said dryly. "A date."

"This may come as a surprise to you, Buck," JD rolled his eyes. "But not every lunch is a date."

"Well, there's a woman involved," he defended.

AJ just watched them interact before going back out to her desk.

When Josiah walked past a little while later, she was absently munching on bits that she'd torn off of the pastries.


	3. Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Tammy Sallin - like everyone else - had heard about the new girl who had been brought in to work with Team Seven. Rumor was that her placement was as it was because someone at the Bureau screwed up. Tammy's best friend, Arina Yoka, had told her and their other two friends that Johnson seemed to take all of this in stride.

From what Arina had heard, Johnson hadn't been very social to any of the other secretaries and that made Tammy somewhat nervous about meeting her.

If she ever did…

Becky Worth had sniffed and said that she was a snob. Tammy thought that the irony was amusing. Personally, Tammy didn't like Becky, who was herself a snob. It didn't seem right to pass judgment on Johnson, when she'd never met the woman.

To be fair, Tammy was a shy girl of 5 foot, 5 inches. So when she rounded the corner of the General File Room, she hadn't had warning before colliding with a smaller brunette.

Gasping at the impact, Tammy immediately dropped the files she was holding. "I'm so sorry!" she squeezed her eyes shut. "I _always_ do this. I don't know why I'm always running into people."

"Oh, it's fine," grey eyes peered up at her from behind wireframe glasses. "Accidents happen."

Tammy stared at her before her manners kicked in. "Oh, I'm Tammy," she stuck a hand out.

"AJ," she slipped a hand into hers and they shook before Tammy bent down to gather the papers. "Do you work here or the FBI?" she asked, going down to join her.

"Oh, here. Uh, if you don't mind my asking, I haven't seen you before. Are you here because of the Swap?"

"Yeah," they stood and wrested the papers back into order. "I'm sure you've heard about the secretary they dumped on Team Seven. They try to hide it, but I know they can't wait to get rid of me," she lifted a shoulder. "I would, too, if I didn't want a secretary to begin with."

"I'm sure that's not true," Tammy immediately denied, dazed at the fact that she'd finally met the elusive Ms. Johnson. And, she didn't seem as bad as what the others have been saying! "Agent Larabee and his team are really nice. I'm sure they don't mean anything by it."

"Just because they're nice doesn't mean they don't want me here," she said. "It's fine, really. I don't know how I got mixed up in the whole thing, but here I am. And you know what they say about -" she blinked, looking surprised at herself for some reason. She gave the sheaf of papers back to Tammy. "Never mind. I came down here for some files, actually. Agent Wilmington wanted files and I have to admit some confusion about what I'm supposed to be looking for."

Tammy nodded thoughtfully. "Hold on a second. Let me look for another file and then I'll be able to help you with yours."

"I don't mean to be a bother," AJ ducked her head. "I've always hated being the new kid."

"Me, too," Tammy assured her, easily locating her last file. "Okay. Now, what did you have to find?"

AJ took a list out of her pocket. "Jennings, Muave, Le Rue."

"Alright. Let's look for Jennings, first," Tammy led the way to the shelf in the J section. "Keep in mind that these try to be in alphabetical order. If they are not, just look for the newly closed red files," she pointed to a majority of them. "If they're older, they have a star on them and the ones who are put to bed are over here in the grey folders," there was a whole shelf dedicated to the greys of J. "I'm not sure where they go after that."

"What do the other colors mean?" AJ studied a green folder.

"That one's open. Yellow means pending and orange means that it's been transferred from another place."

"Interesting," she murmured, grey eyes taking in the large room.

"You'll see when you really get into the swing of things," Tammy assured. "Well," she glanced at her watch. "Almost time for lunch." AJ nodded absently, already searching for her file. "Uh, would you like to eat with us?" Tammy shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Frankly, she was a bit surprised at herself. She wasn't usually this forward around people she barely knew.

"Hm?" she looked up. "Oh, I don't know. We'll have to ask Agent Sanchez because I kind of told him I wanted to buy him lunch… but, I mean, I don't have to do it today…"

Tammy froze. Being around other women was one thing, but she'd never really spent time around men. She grew up with her two Aunts and six female cousins. Tammy and her cousins had spent their lives in all female schools. She had no male friends and wasn't sure how to go about getting some.

Before she could respond, a head popped around the shelves, chocolate brown eyes glinting in a dark face.

"Well, there you are, Tam!" her other best friend Josie Landon grinned. "We've been lookin' high and low for you! Let's beat it 'fore Pest comes back." Brown eyes took in the brunette next to her, staring with curious grey eyes. "Hey. Johnson, right? Want to come with?"

"Where are we going this time?" Tammy wanted to know.

"That place near Arina's," she answered, still eyeing AJ.

"I still have these files -"

"Hand'em over," Josie snatched the list from AJ, cutting her off. Josie looked it over before nodding. "C'mon, you two. Faster we do this, faster we can eat."

Tammy wasn't sure how, but she soon found herself being herded into the elevator with AJ, sans files.

"Now," Josie pressed the button for the eleventh floor. "Johnson, how do you feel about Chinese?"

"Haven't had it in awhile," she shrugged.

Soon, they were at AJ's temporary station outside the doors of the Team Seven offices.

"Love what you've done to the place," Josie grinned as she spotted a blue ball of fuzz with googly eyes perched on the edge of the L-shaped table.

"Agent Tanner gave it to me," AJ frowned at the files and rapped on the office door.

"You don't need to knock, Darlin'," Buck opened the door. "Just come on in. And I see you've been makin' friends already," he grinned, winking at Tammy and Josie, the latter of whom grinned back.

She pushed AJ in. "Can't stay, Wilmington," she attracted attention away from Tammy as was custom and dragged AJ to Chris's office. "Larabee! Here's your files, hope you can get by without your new friend. We'll bring her back in the state we found her in."

Chris looked up with a smile. "Sure, take her. She's been at her desk ever since she got here Monday."

"Oh, but, um," Tammy hovered near the main door in case she needed to make a quick getaway. "AJ said she was going to lunch with Agent Sanchez."

"And you didn't invite us, Preacher?" Vin leaned back in his chair. "What kinda friend are you?"

"A clueless one," he chuckled. "No, Sister, you go on ahead. I'll be staying here for today. Maybe another time."

"… if you want," she looked almost disappointed.

"That's settled," Josie rubbed her hands together. "Now, we're off to eat. We're meeting the others at the car," she added, grabbing AJ and dragging her off. "See ya, boys!"

"Have fun," JD looked up and smiled slightly.

"Take your time," Chris added, flipping through the folders. "Place won't burn down without you."

Tammy scurried out while AJ was dragged out, the brunette oddly tense at Agent Larabee's wisecrack. Buck waved as he closed the door and Josie grabbed what looked like AJ's purse. "Phone, wallet?"

AJ nodded, glancing back at the door with trepidation.

"Don't worry about them," Josie waved dismissively. "Larabee was kidding."

"Not very funny," she muttered, putting her purse on and letting the long strap cross her front.

"I don't think it was supposed to be," Tammy opinioned. Soon, Tammy and Josie gathered their own things and the trio found themselves in the garage, heading to a Ford Fusion 2009.

"Where have you been!" Josie's twin sister, Jodie, rounded a corner. The last of their group, Arina, being dragged by the wrist. "We've been close to calling you on the intercom!"

"Relax, sis," Josie grinned. "Oh, right. This is Johnson, but she goes by AJ. She's the one saddled with Team Seven."

"Hello," she nodded, glancing between the twins with an odd look on her face.

"I'm sure Josie didn't introduce herself," Jodie rolled her eyes. "She's Josie, I'm Jodie and our last name is Landon. Arina Yoka, here, is Japanese."

AJ immediately turned to her. "Know Japanese?"

"I was taught Japanese at the same time as English," she nodded, adjusting her glasses. AJ and Arina were more or less the same height, so they easily held eye contact.

"I love going to Japan," AJ smiled wistfully as she was herded into the back of the Fusion. "But my last visit… left something to be desired."

Packing the three in the back, Jodie took the wheel and Josie relaxed in the passenger seat as the car made its way out of the garage.

"Yeah, well," Josie chuckled. "At least you didn't go there during the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year, right?"

Jodie drew their attention with an observation, all four of them missing AJ's flinch. Her color was back to normal when they pulled up in front of the restaurant so none of them were any the wiser.

Once they put their drink orders in and settled in their booth, Tammy turned to smile at AJ. "So, how long have you been at the FBI?"

"A year now," she lifted a shoulder.

"What did you do before the Bureau got their claws - I mean, hands on you?" Josie winced as Jodie kicked her.

"Can I ask you something?" AJ asked instead, making Tammy wonder if her former job - if she'd had one - was embarrassing. "What is this auction that I've been hearing about?"

"Oh, yeah, I got that memo," Jodie nodded, scouring the menu. "I guess you wouldn't know about it right away. See, the Swap Auction is an event associated with the Swap that you were brought in as part of. All the secretaries that are at the ATF and been transferred over from the FBI have to be in this Auction."

"There's two parts," Josie continued. "First, secretaries can bid on the new ones. Anyone can have you do anything, but it would have to be little things. You know, the favors that you don't have to plan much for. But, see, the thing is that whoever's got you has to give you things to do before the Swap ends."

Jodie added, "It's the same for the second part. That's when the agents get to bid on you all. The idea is to have a blending of people getting to know each other. They can do anything from having you go on a date to babysitting. And, it doesn't have to be just one agent, either."

"And I would have to do things for each of the ones who get me?" AJ mused thoughtfully. "But what if I don't get taken?"

"Oh, you'll have to," Josie assured. "All of you have to get taken. It's part of the rules. But, of course, you can put your foot down if something makes you uncomfortable."

AJ nodded, not saying anything else as their waiter brought their drinks and took their food orders. Once he left, she toyed with her straw. "And when is all this supposed to start?"

"Next week," Arina answered.

"Will the secretaries be under the rule that everyone has to be taken, as well?"

"Sure," Jodie sipped her tea. "But don't worry about that. If we all pool together, we'll be able to buy you, no problem."

"Yeah," Tammy nodded, by this point used to the twins dragging them along on whatever venture they'd decided was a worthy cause. "We haven't gotten along with the others in your group."

"Because some of 'em are straight up snobs," Josie wrinkled her nose.

"I like you," Arina offered.

"But," AJ frowned at her. "You don't even know me."

"Yet," Josie grinned. "There's somethin' about you, Johnson. Besides, not knowing someone is the reason the Auction had been going on. We'll get to know you, just wait. You won't regret it."

Tammy could swear that the look on AJ's face said, _That may be, but will __**you**__?_


	4. Thursday, May 26, 2011

AN: I keep forgetting this for some reason, but just to let you know, there will be no AJ/ Seven pairings. If you have a problem with this, I will not be offended if you stop reading.

I have yet to see a story where the female OC is gay. Just so you know.

In any case, the gay issue will come up periodically, but not just in this story, either. There are others planned, but we'll see how far down the road we get.

In a (maybe) unrelated issue, does it count as a crossover if only a few characters - or one - appear?

* * *

"Um, Agent Larabee?"

Chris looked up to see AJ in the door. "Question?"

"I was wondering if I could get donuts next."

Chris hid a smile as green eyes took in the determined look.

JD had brought the breakfast today and he'd also gotten something for AJ. Chris, having been there when JD presented her with a blueberry muffin, could see the mounting tension in her small - five foot three - frame.

He knew it had to be a matter of time before she asked to be included in the rotation. Since she was also a member of the team - however temporarily she was with them -, Buck had also tossed the suggestion out earlier that morning. Chris had no problem with it, considering the fact that she kept asking Josiah to lunch over his earlier contribution and now JD had bought breakfast.

Idly wondering what she would do if he didn't let her do it, Chris shrugged. "Ask Vin. His turn and all."

"Yes, sir," she nodded, turning right back around. Chris followed as she stalked to Vin and Ezra's shared desk. "Agent Tanner?"

Vin glanced over at Chris, who tilted his head, before smiling up at AJ. "Somethin' I can do for you, Darlin'?"

Evidently, 'Darlin' had become the team's nickname for her.

"Agent Larabee told me to talk to you about your turn to bring in breakfast."

Vin also agreed with Buck that maybe she should have a turn, even if she wasn't long term. To Vin's way of thinking, if she was working with them, then she was a member of the team. If she was a member of the team, then she would be expected to act like one. Bringing in donuts for everyone was just something the team did. "What 'bout it?"

"Can I do it? I mean, if it's alright with you."

"I don't have a problem with it," Vin shook his head thoughtfully. "Chris? What about you?"

"Nope," the blond smiled slightly.

Vin nodded before turning to his desk-mate. "Ez? You alright with AJ buying donuts?"

"Whatever Ms. Johnson sees fit to bring in, I shall gladly partake."

"As long as you can see us eating it," Nathan piped up. "Sure. No problems here."

"I agree," Josiah nodded. "I was actually about to suggest it, seeing as it looks to be making you uncomfortable if someone else gives you anything."

"I just don't like owing someone," she ruefully ducked her head.

"That's understandable," Chris put in. "I don't much fancy it myself."

JD looked up. "I don't mind having AJ have a turn. I mean, she's technically part of the team, right?"

"That's also a good point," Nathan nodded thoughtfully.

"Buck," JD spotted him leaning against the wall next to the break room door. "What do you think?"

"If she don't mind," he smiled at her reassuringly. "I guess I got nothin' to complain about."

"Guess that settles it," Vin turned to her. "If ya can manage, a dozed oughta be about right."

"Okay," she nodded. "Thanks, Agent Tanner."

"Don't worry about it, Darlin'," he waved it away. "I can buy breakfast for the fellas just as well when you go back to your office down with the Feds."

As much as the team hated it, they tried to curb their dislike for Ezra's former agency around AJ. Since she'd be working with them, they tried to be - somewhat - respectful. And anyway, it wasn't AJ's fault she got dragged into their lives.

Well, this time, anyway.

She could have actually volunteered for a future Swap, eventually, but she'd more than likely only have limited contact with them as she would have been placed with the other secretaries.

And, anyway, it wasn't the secretaries Team Seven had issues with. It was the agents themselves, no matter how good at their jobs they were.

Speaking of secretaries…

"Johnson," Chris spoke up as she turned to leave. "You got the memo about the Auction?"

"Yes, sir," she nodded solemnly. "The Landon twins explained it to me when we were at lunch."

"Good," he nodded.

"That's right," Buck frowned, sipping his coffee. Or 'dishwater', as Vin affectionately called it. "You're gonna be in it, right?"

"Are you actually going to be bidding this time?" Chris raised an eyebrow at him. Usually, his oldest friend would just be looking through the temporary girls in preparation of trying his charms on them.

"Now, why would I do that?" he grinned. "I can still have them do what I want without having to bid for their time."

"But the proceeds are going toward the Y and Battered Women's Shelter," Josiah reminded him. Josiah would go to the Auction. He would sometimes make a bid for someone and occasionally win.

Seeing AJ's pensive look, JD tilted his head thoughtfully. "I guess I could maybe put in an appearance," he mused. "I mean, since AJ's going to be up there and all." He shrugged. "I mean, it's just that I feel like I should be there for support, you know?"

"That's a good point, JD," Nathan nodded. "Rain's working late all next week, so I don't have any other plans."

"Well, he-ck, boys," Buck covered his slip-up, glancing at the sole female. "Let's make it a team effort! We'll all pretty much be there anyway. Ez? Chris? Vin? What say you?"

"For a good cause," Vin smiled crookedly. "Why not."

"I have no outstanding engagements that cannot be rescheduled."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Buck shook his head, for the umpteenth time wondering why he couldn't talk like other people.

"Count me in," never let it be said that Chris Larabee didn't support his team.

"Great," Buck clapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly together. "Anybody know where it is this year?"

Ezra was already clicking through the memo in his email inbox. "The Downer Convention Center."

The DCC – as it was usually called – was one of several centers that were available to businesses and agencies headquartered in Denver.

"Sounds good," Nathan nodded. "You know where it is, AJ?"

She slowly shook her head, grey eyes darting from one to the other.

"We can drive you over," Nathan offered. "I can swing by your place after work, if you like."

"It'll be easier if we went straight from the office," Josiah pointed out. "We can bring a change of clothes or something and start getting ready here."

"What about AJ?" JD frowned. The brunette in question looked taken aback as seven pairs of eyes landed on her.

"What about her?" Buck frowned at him.

"Well, she's a girl, right? Shouldn't she want to do something with her hair or something?"

Chris frowned slightly, considering. "Johnson, you gonna need help or something?"

"No…," she bit her lip, glancing down at herself. "I got it."

"If you do," Buck told her, "the girls you been hangin' around with can help. Or one of the Bureau girls."

With that out of the way, Chris looked her over. "You have an outfit for this thing?" he mentally winced. AJ was a female; she had outfits for _everything_.

"Maybe," she mused. "I can get one if I don't."

"Well, that's taken care of," Buck grinned.

"You want to look your best, don't you?" JD turned to her. "So you can have someone bet on you."

"That's one of the rules, Brother," Josiah sat back in his chair. "All of those up for Auction must be won. To strengthen bonds between the personnel of our agencies."

"I wonder who's gonna get you," JD grinned in excitement. "All of us here are really good men and women. So, you don't have to worry about that."

"Josiah will put in a bid for you," Nathan assured. "Right, Josiah?"

"Certainly," he studied the brunette as she turned to him. "Maybe even win you, if that's alright."

"If no one else bids," she lifted a shoulder. Though, Chris could plainly see some of the tension leech from her at the prospect that someone she knows could potentially win her. Well, not someone she knew _well,_ but someone she was slightly familiar with. Chris frowned, trying to recall if she'd had any other interactions with agents outside of the team.

"Well," Vin leaned back in his chair with an easy smile. "Can't let Preacher go without a fight."

"Are you proposing, Mr. Tanner," Ezra's eyes sparkled, "a war of bidding for Ms. Johnson?"

"You don't have to do that," she immediately shook her head.

"Ah, relax, Darlin'," Buck grinned. "Ez's just pullin' your leg. Right, Ez? And besides. Between him, Junior and Josiah, I'm sure one of them'll get you, no problem."

"Unless someone else gets you," JD pointed out.

AJ pulled one side of her mouth down. "I don't know why someone would. I'm really not that special."

"Everyone is in one way or another," Josiah sagely advised. "Once they get to know you, I'm sure they'll find redeeming qualities."

"Maybe," she didn't sound entirely convinced. As she wandered back outside, Nathan frowned.

"I know it's for a good cause and all, but I'm not sure I like the idea."

"Don't worry, Nate," Buck patted the air in his direction. "I know what you're thinkin', but it's not the same."

"She's still gonna have to do whatever someone wants her to do," JD had to point out.

"But there are limits," Ezra pursed his lips. "And, I believe, Judge Travis monitors the situation."

"Team leaders have to keep an eye on whoever their agents win," Chris told them. "To make sure everything's alright." He'd had to do the same when Josiah introduced him to his own 'purchase'. Though, Josiah could be trusted to keep everything under control.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Buck frowned. "There ain't a whole lot of agents here that I'm worried about."


	5. Friday, May 27, 2011

AN: Please give a moment of silence for the victims of the 2012 sinking of the Costa Concordia.

Tammy smiled slightly as Arina slid into the seat next to her in the general breakroom.

It was a sizable area branching off the office area where secretaries could do everything from eat meals there to taking a power nap on one of the couches centered around the television.

"Where's Jodie and Josie?" Tammy wanted to know, opening her lunch bag.

"They'll be around," Arina lifted a shoulder. "I guess Bobby had an emergency at school."

The twins had one older sister and one older brother. Their brother had a seven year old son that the twins just doted on.

"Is everything alright?" Tammy wanted to know, opening her can of soda that she'd gotten from one of the vending machines.

"Oh, yeah," Arina shook her head. "But you know how Lyn and Jared are really booked right now."

"That's good," she sighed in relief. Tammy let her eyes roam the room to see who was there.

Becky Worth had been flitting in and out. Some of the other girls were at the other end of the room. Tammy spied some of the Bureau Girls – as the Auction girls were called – lounging near the television.

They were really nice, she decided, having shared a laugh or two with a few of them. Still, they tended to keep together and Tammy really did understand that. It was an unfamiliar environment and having familiar people around tended to lead to a gathering of fellows.

Speaking of fellows…

"Hey," Tammy caught sight of a familiar brunette as she ambled over to the Bureau girls. "It's AJ."

Arina followed her gaze and nodded. "That's her, alright." They watched AJ bend down to speak to one, a redhead that Tammy remembered as Taylor. Tammy and Arina looked at each other as AJ was slowly being surrounded by the others from the Bureau.

"What do you think is going on over here?" Tammy wondered aloud as one of the blondes whispered into AJ's ear. AJ leaned back to frown at her as the blonde nodded earnestly.

"I don't know," Arina tilted her head. "AJ's down here for lunch," she added, spotting the purple lunch bag dangling from AJ's hand.

"I thought Team Seven had lunch together," Tammy frowned.

"Maybe AJ wants to hang around other girls today," Arina shrugged. Tammy had to wonder, though, as AJ reached into her pocket and frowned as she scanned the message on her cellphone.

The other girls exchanged looks as AJ answered. Tammy and Arina weren't quite sure what to make of any of it as AJ drifted from the others, pocketing her phone and letting grey eyes scan the tables in front of her. Tammy wasn't entirely sure about this, but AJ seemed to be miles away as she glanced around.

"Now I _really_ want to know what happened," Arina gave Tammy a side look. Tammy agreed, but decided that AJ had to eat sometime and raised a hand.

"Here, AJ," she called, only dimly aware that the other Bureau girls turned to them. "Why don't you sit here?"

Arina looked back over to the group and blinked at the looks of surprise as AJ headed in their direction. "Unless you had other plans," she hastily added.

"No," she smiled slightly. "No plans," she settled in a chair across from them and unzipped her bag.

"Say, what were you talking about over there?" Tammy glanced back over to see several pairs of eyes narrowed in thought.

"Nothing important," she sighed, rolling her eyes at them. "And nothing I can't handle is all."

"You know we can help, if you need it," Arina smiled shyly. She wasn't the kind of person to easily make friends, but she seemed to get on fine with AJ for some reason.

She shook her head, warmly smiling at their concern. "No, I'm fine. It's just things going on at the Bureau. Nothing I can't handle."

"If you're sure," Tammy munched on a chip. "Say, do you eat with Team Seven?"

"No," she tilted her head. "I'm not sure I would qualify, not being an official member and all. Anyway, I like to make sure the others are doing okay."

"Seems to be doing alright," Arina took out her chopsticks to spear some shrimp. Her cousin was also her roommate and seemed to take great pleasure in making sure 'Arina-chan' was being fed. And if the girls were to drop by around lunchtime… Well, they got used to being the baby chicks after a while.

"How are you, though?" Tammy studied the brunette.

"Oh, I just can't wait to get back to the office," AJ smiled cheerily. "Then again, it kind of doesn't feel like I've left, actually…"

The trio ate their lunches with periods of conversation. It was one of the most relaxing lunches Tammy had had in a long time.

About half-way through, the twins finally showed up.

"Hey, Johnson," Jodie grinned, settling down into the seat next to her. "I see you're out of your bolt hole."

"What brings you 'round us lowly pigeons?" Josie added with a teasing grin.

"Nothing special," she lifted a shoulder.

AJ let them talk over her as she munched on her sandwich. It was as they were finishing and gathering their trash did a guy slide into the room.

"Oh, Lord," Josie covered her eyes. "Pest at three o'clock."

Tammy frowned at her watch. "It's not even two."

"Behind you," AJ looked over her shoulder. "You're at three o'clock. That's the position your seat is."

"Honey," Jodie smiled wryly. "Explain all you want to, but she still ain't gonna get it. We've tried."

"Well, if it's not my favorite ladies," Pest ambled over with a cheery grin. "And how are we today, Ms. Tammy?"

Keeping in mind that Tammy really didn't know how to respond to men - and this one in particular had a charming smile - , she immediately flushed and stuttered, "I-I can't, um, re-really complain."

"How about the rest of you?" Black eyes landed on AJ. "Hello, there. You must be the famous Ms. Johnson that's been the talk of the office. How do you like it here?"

AJ looked at the others before studying him. "I've been settling in okay. May I ask who you are?"

"Ah, my apologies, AJ, was it? Arnold Westover, at your service. Now, may I ask what AJ stands for?"

"I don't think we know each other that well," she coolly eyed him.

"True that," Jodie glared at him. "Now, get lost."

"Ms. Landon," he grinned at her. "It's only a matter of time. Ladies," he nodded before taking his leave.

"Agent Westover," Josie shook her head. "AKA Pest. Got here three years ago and has been chasing women ever since."

"Careful with that one, Johnson," Jodie warned. "Pest has ways of making women like him. But us four? We don't trust him."

"Agent Wilmington doesn't like him," Arina pointed out.

"We think Wilmington's jealous," Josie told AJ. "I, personally, would date Wilmington if he were my type, but there ain't no way I'm goin' there with Pest."

"Somethin' don't sit right with him," Jodie added.

"A lot of the single girls have gone out with him," Tammy sipped her soda. "Except for maybe us and Becky."

"Yeah, well," Josie lifted a shoulder. "Everybody knows she's got her eye on Wilmington. Heck, she goes on about him like no tomorrow and it ain't a mystery why no guy's ever tried to get her attention."

"Obsessed," Jodie nodded. "Nothin' but that man on the brain."

"I don't think she's that bad," Tammy turned to her, leaving AJ to stew over the information.

"Cause, you no threat," she flicked her wrist. "Face it, Tam. Ya just don't have it."

"And when he does talk to you," Arina pointed out. "It's because Agent Wilmington is who he is and he can't resist complimenting women."

As they went on, AJ stared at the table.

'Pest' certainly was that, but no real threat for the moment.

Becky, on the other hand…

AJ knew well the dangers of obsession. She would have to keep her eyes open because obsessed people were dangerous.

And dangerous was unpredictable.


	6. Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Chris yawned as he got off the elevator onto his floor. He'd had a relaxing weekend at the ranch. Vin hung around Sunday and Buck had dropped by yesterday for a steak and beer.

Now that they were back in the office, it was time to once again get into the swing of things.

He rounded the corner and saw that their temporary secretary was at her desk, typing away at her keyboard with determination.

"Morning, Darlin'," he smiled slightly as he stopped by her computer. "Anything come in for me?"

"Good morning, Agent Larabee," she flicked a glance up at him. "Lead Agent Donners from Team Two will be by later today. He said it's to green light the joint operation with Team Six from the Arizona office. Also, a Mary Travis would like you to call her back before Saturday."

"Right. Have Donners meet me in my office when he gets here. Oh, and Johnson. When we call a meeting, I'd like you to sit in on it."

"Sir?"

"Well, since you're here, you may as well sit in and take notes. That way, if I can't remember what's going on, I'll just go to you."

"But Agent Lowe didn't let me join the team during their meetings," she frowned.

If Chris thought that was odd somehow, he didn't really think anything of it. Some teams were run differently. "But you're on my team for the rest of your time with us. I don't see why you can't interact with the team a little more." He'd noticed that she didn't quite connect with the team, but the team wasn't making an effort on their end, either. "Besides, I make a point of including all my teammates. And, for the time being, you're part of the team."

"Yes, sir," she nodded slightly. "Would you like me to go in now?"

Chris thought about it. "No. Give it a few minutes, then come in. Meet us in the conference room."

After that, Chris went on to his office, hearing what his agents did over the Memorial Day weekend. Even though they would usually have had dinner together before going their separate ways, many things - as they were wont to do - came up and the dinner had had to be rain checked for another time.

Stowing his things at his desk, he nodded as he saw AJ scurry in and head for the conference room with a spiral one subject notebook and a pen. The boys, still chatting, got up and followed her in.

Chris followed the group and leaned against the doorjamb, watching all of them interact with each other.

The seven before him sat around the table in their seats. AJ had returned to the chair she'd used before and was currently scribbling in the notebook, only pausing to answer the polite questions tossed her way. She was sat a distance from the boys, even Ezra was in the middle of the group. And she was strangely tense, like she wasn't sure of her welcome even though Chris had told her to show and the boys didn't bat an eye at her presence.

Deciding that now was as good a time as any to appear, Chris reached and closed the door behind him. Once he got everyone's attention, he crossed his arms.

"I hope everyone had a good weekend," he noticed AJ stare at the table, "because we'll jump right into it. Now, Travis cornered me in the garage and told me to give you a heads up. The Swap Auction has been moved to Saturday as a result of another event that had been rescheduled. That means that I will expect to see all of you there.

"Johnson, it will be your turn to bring in donuts tomorrow, so I expect you to get them first thing in the morning. Tanner, you will be moved to next week. I don't want anyone forgetting and bringing two dozen more than we need. Also, Johnson will be included in our team meetings until the Swap ends and she goes back to her regular office."

"That's what we figured," Vin lifted a shoulder. "AJ's our teammate right now, so I'd expect her to be here."

The others agreed and Chris watched AJ slowly relax in her chair. Getting their newest to relax was always a start. She could stand to do some of that more. She could also do with gaining some weight, Chris eyed her jacket. It was too big on her, but it clearly used to fit a little better.

"Everyone alright with that?" Chris made sure. Once all agreed that AJ had to suffer meetings with the rest of them, Chris went on with some other topics of discussion. All the while, AJ's head was bent over her notebook as her pen scratched away.

Dismissing all, AJ was the first one out of the door. After the others had followed at a steadier pace, Vin stopped beside Chris.

"Johnson's not connecting as well as I thought," Chris admitted. "I do understand that we're in unfamiliar territory here, but I hope we can at least _learn_ to like each other."

"She's been hangin' around some of the girls," Vin pointed out. "That has to mean something, right?"

"I don't know. I'm thinkin', what we need to do is interact with her a little more. Maybe she'll start opening up or something."

Both of them watched the others as they sent infrequent questioning looks in their direction.

"What do you suggest?" Vin frowned at him.

"Well," he thought about it. "She needs to understand that she's part of our team right now…" They would have to include her in some aspects of their lives. Even if she wasn't temporary, she'd still have to work with the team and a good working relationship to Chris meant that everyone would have to spend some time with AJ if not befriend her. "We'll need to schedule a team lunch on Friday," Chris decided. "To make her feel included. It helped with you and Ezra," he remembered.

Ezra and Vin were loners. When each had arrived to the team, they had been in AJ's position now of being distant. The lunches and dinners had been a good way to gain the newest member's trust and Chris fully expected it to work with AJ.

Vin nodded thoughtfully. "Saloon?"

"Is there anywhere else?"

** Later **

Buck sighed as he leant against the break room sink.

It wasn't that he had a problem with integrating AJ into their group, it was that he'd tried.

Since they found that she would be working with them, he'd tried several times to make some sort of connection with her, but to no avail.

It was almost like she didn't want to have anything to do with them. Buck just didn't get it. If she was hanging out with some of their secretaries, then why wouldn't she hang out with them? Maybe it was something they said or did? Or didn't say or do?

Usually, Buck had no problem making friends with others, whether he wanted to date them or not. To have their temporary teammate blocking him at every turn was throwing him off.

He couldn't understand it, he really couldn't. Then again, he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. Maybe he was trying too hard. As a matter of fact, AJ didn't know him. What if the reason she'd been so distant with him was because she thought that Buck was hitting on her? Well, not that he wouldn't, but she wasn't actually his type. She was cute, though. She thought he was making passes at her and didn't quite know how to let him down.

That had to be it!

'Well, alright then,' he straightened, rubbing his hands together. 'All I gotta do is go out there and explain that I ain't tryin' to date her. That should be a start.'

With that in mind, Buck marched out of the break room and past his curious teammates to the doors to the office.

"Okay, Darlin', listen…" he trailed off, frowning at her empty desk. Looking around, Buck reckoned she was in the seldom used women's bathroom and ambled down that way to wait for her.

But as he got closer, he found that someone had already beaten him to her.

Buck never liked Arnold Westover, but he never could pin down a reason. This right here, on the other hand…

Buck took in the scene happening in front of him.

Westover had AJ against the corner, an arm barring her forward progress as he used the rest of his body to cage her in.

AJ wasn't enjoying the encounter at all.

She held her body rigidly and it was clear that she didn't want to be there. Buck could see that neither saw or heard him, so he backtracked a few feet and waited a minute before calling AJ again and barreling down the way he had come.

"There ya are, Darlin'!" he rounded the corner to find an unchanged scene in front of him. "Chris's been lookin' for you. When ya weren't at your desk, I came lookin'."

"Ah, Wilmington," Westover smiled slightly as he glanced over his shoulder at him. "I was just telling Ms. AJ here that I could show her a nice place to eat lunch at on Friday."

Buck had been told by Chris that they were planning a team lunch so that AJ could have some time with them to feel comfortable being around them at the office. It would probably help, seeing as AJ was a girl and all and probably wouldn't be comfortable with a bunch of strange guys like them. "Sorry, Arnie," Buck shrugged, stepping up next to them. "AJ's gonna eat lunch with the rest of the team on Friday. Bonding, you understand."

"Ah, a team thing," now Buck could see his eyes as he was unable to before. He didn't like the man's smile as he turned his attention back to the brunette in his 'cage'. "Well, Ms. AJ," he smiled widely. "I look forward to the Auction this weekend."

"Me, too," Buck bared his teeth in a strained smile. "Us and the boys'll be hangin' around. We should have lunch sometime, huh, Arnie?" he clapped him on the shoulder.

"Thank you, but no," Westover straightened, leaving AJ pressed against the wall, bespectacled grey eyes watching him warily. "I have some previous engagements."

"Ah, sorry to hear that," Buck propped an arm over AJ, slightly moving Arnie aside so that Buck was half between them. "Maybe another time, then."

"Mr. Wilmington," Ezra rounded the corner to find his teammate in a staring contest with Westover, their newest addition pressed against the wall between them. "May I enquire as to the nature of this particular interaction?"

"Hey, Ez," Buck sent a grin at him. He slipped the arm propped on the wall down until it was draped over AJ. "We were just 'bout to head on back to the office when Arnie here started tellin' Darlin' here about places to eat around town. I told him that AJ was already going to have lunch with us. Matter of fact, I was about to invite him to a future lunch, but he said he got 'engagements', so I guess AJ'll be eatin' with either us or them twins she adopted 'til next week or somethin'. Maybe you could suggest a place for an uppity… guy like Arnie to take his dates?" Buck quickly herded AJ past before Ezra could refuse.

"Agent Wilmington?" AJ frowned slightly.

"Sorry, Darlin'," Buck sighed, putting some space between them so she didn't feel caged in anymore. "I had to step in. Didn't look like you were havin' fun."

"I'm not a helpless damsel, Agent Wilmington," she looked back down the hall. "I could have handled him."

"Ain't no one sayin' ya are a 'helpless damsel'," whatever that was, "but I just didn't like the way he was talkin' to you. Trappin' a lady ain't how to talk to them."

"I guess not," she frowned slightly, heading back to her desk.

Buck nodded slightly. "Er, Darlin'? Chris ain't really lookin' for you. I came lookin' cause I wanted to apologize."

"Huh? Apologize?" she tilted her head. "For what?"

"If I'm givin' you the wrong impression," he ran a hand through his hair. "I was thinkin' about how I been acting and I just wanted to tell you –"

"I know you're not interested."

"- sorry and that I'm not trying to put the moves… huh?" he blinked.

She smiled slightly. "I know you haven't been trying to hit on me," she clarified. "Believe me, I know how to tell the difference between friendly and interested. So, you don't have to worry about it."

He stared. "Uh, great? No, uh, listen. AJ, as glad as I am to know that you know I ain't tryin' to pressure you or anything. I want to make sure you know that if you have Arnie makin' you uncomfortable – or anyone else for that matter – that I'd like you to come to me or any of the guys. Now," he raised a hand. "I know you can handle things, but I mean, if you have anyone botherin' you for anything, it would be a load off Chris' mind – for one – to have you report any problems."

"Oh," she nodded thoughtfully. "It's standard operating procedure for the female employees?"

"Sure!" he was quick to agree. Many of the women around here didn't feel comfortable coming to a man for any problems there were experiencing. Making it sound like it was an order/ request would probably make her obligated to report back.

"Alright," she nodded. "If I experience anything I'm not comfortable with, I will find you or any of the others and say something."

Later, Buck and the team would realize that there was a foolproof way to make her keep to her word, but that was going to be a revelation for another time.

"That's all I ask," Buck smiled in relief to get that weight off his mind. He'd known that JD was worried about this since he'd overheard one of the Bureau Girls saying that women in government offices were more likely to not report problems in the work place. It'd make him feel better, too, now that he'd thought about it.

"I really could handle it, though."

"Darlin', when you are on this floor- in this building, even- you are my teammate," he turned serious blue eyes on her. "I'd like to know that any of you know to come to me if you need someone to watch your back. Are we clear on this?"

AJ studied him before nodding seriously. "Yes."

"Good man," he reached out to squeeze her arm. "Er, girl. Remember, now," he watched her round her desk to get to her chair. "Any problem, I want to be the first to know about it. Even if it has to do with me."

Buck ambled back to the breakroom and found Chris studying him. "Hey, Hoss. What's on the agenda?"

"Wasn't expecting to give her the problem talk, yet," he drawled. Buck knew him, though, and knew that Chris had more than likely had a word with her, too, to the same effect. "She hasn't been here three weeks and she's already having problems?"

"Nothin' to worry about," Buck waved him off. "Just backing your word."

Chris frowned at him. "Keep me posted," he said finally, trusting Buck to handle this.

"You can count on me."


	7. Thursday, June 2, 2011

AN: the rating will need to go up, I'm afraid, in a few chapters. But not that much. I don't think.

There will be some strong words cropping up, but I really don't know how else to avoid some of them and still manage to get the right point across.

You'll see what I mean.

* * *

JD rubbed his eyes as he and Buck left the elevator. They were running a little late, but it wasn't enough to make much of a fuss. Ezra came in later for various reasons, so JD didn't feel very bad.

There were about half-way down the hall when JD started smelling something _good_.

"JD, I think I'm still dreamin'," Buck sniffed the air.

"That's chocolate," JD and Buck exchanged wide-eyed looks before racing down the hall and into the office where the smell was getting stronger.

"There you are," Josiah smiled at their looks. "Sister Johnson seems to have set the bar rather high," he told them, finishing off his chocolate chunk muffin.

JD dumped his things at his desk and hurried into the breakroom to find three big baskets filled with muffins. "Wow, AJ!" he grabbed a chocolate chip muffin and closed his eyes at the first bite.

"It _is_ good, AJ," Nathan told her, both of them sitting next to the refrigerator with the remains of three muffins in front of them. "I expected donuts."

"I thought I would try this muffin place down the street from my apartment," she lifted a shoulder. "No big deal."

Vin was sitting nearby with four folded wrappers and a glass of milk and working on a fifth. "I think the muffin place is a hit."

"Me, too," Buck agreed, biting into a chocolate chunk muffin.

"That's good," she nodded. "I'll let them know you like their muffins."

By the time any of them remembered Ezra, they'd pretty much demolished the muffins.

"Good afternoon, Gentlemen," he ambled in, briefcase and coffee in hand.

"Hey, Ez," Buck grinned. His smile suddenly fell as he looked at the others. "Uh, fellas?"

Chris had eaten three; Vin had six; JD had four: Buck had almost eight; as Nathan and Josiah also had four apiece… None of them knew how many AJ had – if she'd eaten any -, but it ended the same.

Nathan picked up the phone and dialed AJ's desk. "Yeah, AJ? Can we see you in here?"

The door opened seconds later as AJ stepped in. "Agent Jackson? You wanted to see me?"

"Uh, Darlin'?" Buck raised a hand. "I know we all had a few, but how many of them muffins did you buy?"

"Yeah, AJ," JD looked at the others. "Ezra didn't get any."

"There was enough," she told them. "I made sure everyone got some." She retreated back outside before any of them could formulate a response.

"Let me look again," Josiah ambled back to look and shook his head as he returned. "Nothing."

"Hell, Ezra, we didn't even think," JD felt terrible. "I'm sorry."

"It cannot be helped, Mr. Dunne," Ezra waved away his apology. Hurt feelings notwithstanding, Ezra understood that Ms. Johnson perhaps miscalculated the amount to bring to the office. She had, after all, no previous experience around Team Seven when there were delicious treats to be found.

"We'll save some for you next time," Buck promised.

Knowing they would beat themselves up for it, Ezra was trying to figure out what to say to them when he settled behind his desk. About to open the thin drawer above his lap, his sharp emerald eyes caught something out of place. The bigger three drawers were usually closed tightly the way he left them before leaving for home the previous day.

The bottom drawer had the confidential files that he kept locked. The first drawer usually had extra clothes and some of the more general files. The second one, however, only held a locked strongbox that Ezra would open alone every third of the month. There was no reason for it to have been opened. The others knew not to touch his desk unless it was for office supplies. The second drawer - the one that had no reason to have been opened – was cracked open, but not enough to see if anything was inside.

Glancing around at the others, he wondered which one of them was about to unleash the latest prank and slowly eased the drawer open.

"Mr. Tanner," he blinked before looking up. "Did you happen to be the first to reach the office?"

He glanced at him. "Nope. Josiah was."

Ezra turned to him. "Mr. Sanchez, is it true that you were the first of us to arrive?"

"After Sister Johnson, of course," he told him.

"I see. And did you witness Ms. Johnson settle in?"

"No. Everything was already set out when I got in. Why?"

"So, none of us here could claim to have witnessed Ms. Johnson set out the exact number of pastries that were present upon arrival?"

"Ezra," Nathan frowned. "What are you trying to say?"

He gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Mr. Sanchez, for leading me to an explanation for this," he reached into the open drawer and held up the small paper plate for them to see, three muffins crowded onto it.

"I'll be damned!" Buck laughed. "She hid some for Ezra!"

"Hiding the muffins in your desk was clever," Nathan shook his head. "That way, only you would know where they are."

Vin tilted his head and smiled slightly as Ezra turned back to this desk, unpeeling a muffin. Turning his eyes to the door leading out, he couldn't help wondering about AJ.

Making a decision, Vin rifled through his desk and smiled to himself as he came up with a blank pocket notebook. Flipping it open, he grabbed a pen and scribbled the date and time.

_Entry 1_

_AJ hid muffins in Ezra's desk. Clever; knows to keep some hidden away from general eyes._

It had been something that Vin started when he joined Team Seven. He had a locked box at home that held six similar notebooks filled with similar notes about each of his 'brothers'. It helped him get a feel for their overall personalities and let him connect better with them.

Now, he was going to employ that same strategy with AJ.

For however long she was with them.


	8. Friday, June 3, 2011

Nathan looked up from his screen and smiled warmly as he found AJ near the door, ready for lunch. "Hey, AJ. Ready for lunch?"

She nodded. "Agent Larabee told me yesterday."

Nathan logged off the computer and stood. "Well, Josiah and Ezra are going to meet us there. You already know that Chris is on his way back from court and Buck is going to be riding with him. Vin and JD are working with the Denver PD, so I guess it's just the two of us heading down. You'll like the Saloon," he assured, swinging his chair back under the desk. Nathan grabbed his keys, wallet and phone, leading AJ out and locking the door behind them.

AJ followed him to the elevator and they waited for the lift.

Nathan glanced down at her.

She had her hair up again, in a twist this time. Since the 23rd, they had yet to see her with her hair down. It was a pretty brown, though.

She had wireframe, black glasses and pretty grey eyes. She dressed a bit too professionally for them – with a skirt and button-up with a light over sweater.

She didn't seem to dress… with a personality, as Buck had once said. Sure, they all dressed professionally, but really just for court or something. Even now, Nathan had slacks and a green polo on.

Chris told them that they could wear jeans when nothing else was going on. Ezra wore a tie clip that Vin had given him for Christmas and would sometimes wear a tie that one of them had given him for whatever reason.

AJ, on the hand, wore blouse, cover, skirt, high heels and her hair up. No jewelry. Except…

Nathan glanced at her left wrist.

It was covered with a black band. JD had noticed it first the other day, when AJ's sleeve rode up a little as she was handing a file to Josiah.

Buck said that it wasn't a wristband, because it didn't feel like a soft and fuzzy wrap. It felt rough and braided. As far as any of them could tell, the band couldn't be taken off. It was an inch and a half wide and there were no discernible markings on it.

That was the only thing that made her appearance personal in any way.

They had to wonder why she didn't wear jewelry except for that band and what the story was behind it.

The doors opened and they stepped in. Pushing the button for the garage, Nathan watched the lights go down as he thought about it.

All the other secretaries had something to mark their personalities.

Jodie and Josie Landon, for example, each wore a pendant that made a heart when put side by side. They had different hairstyles, too, but would sometimes answer to the other's name.

Arina Yoka had hair ribbons that she would wear every day without fail, one color for each day of the week.

Tammy Sallin could be counted on for hair bands and at least two things on her right arm, be it bracelet or hair tie.

Even the female agents had something they wore.

AJ…

Nathan would have thought the Bureau Girls dressed the same, but he'd seen them wearing jewelry and hair accessories and bracelets.

"Why is it called the Saloon?"

He blinked, being thrown from his thoughts. "It's a Mexican place. Inez Recillos runs it. It's got Western paraphernalia all over the place."

"Josie said that they call you the Magnificent Seven," she noted.

"Yeah," he smiled ruefully. "Have you seen the movies?"

"Only the _Samurai_," she said after a minute.

They found themselves in the garage and Nathan steered her toward his car. "Not the American version?"

"The American version is a more light hearted version of the original story."

"But I thought," Nathan frowned, climbing behind the wheel. "The American version of the _Seven Samurai_ was inspired by it?"

"Technically. But there's a story from the old West that actually inspired the Magnificent Seven."

Nathan wasn't entirely sure, but he'd always thought that _Samurai_ inspired _Seven_. "What's the story from the old West?"

AJ frowned slightly, thinking. "It's mostly lost to history," she explained as he pulled out of the garage, "but there's this old Western town and in the late 1800's, there were seven men that were hired to protect the town. They did what a lot of people thought was impossible. They policed the town and the town prospered. I'm not sure what happened to the Seven or the town. I just know that they were famous. I heard the story from one of my dorm mates some time ago. We didn't finish the conversation, so I don't know the location of the town or who the men were. I just know that the legend of Seven started in the old West."

"I never heard of it," he navigated the streets. "Well, when you get a chance to call them, ask about it and let me know what happened."

"Okay."

Nathan found a place to park next to Ezra's Jag and they entered the restaurant.

He well remembered his first visit and glanced at AJ to see her reaction and was surprised to see what looked like nostalgia cross her face before it was gone.

"Brother Jackson, Sister Johnson," Josiah hailed them from their usual table near the back. "The rest of us should be arriving shortly."

As they settled in, Inez swung by with Josiah and Ezra's drinks. "Senor Nathan," she smiled in greeting. "And who is your lovely new friend?"

"Her name's AJ," Nathan nodded. "Some paperwork snafu and she was put with us for the Swap."

"Oh," she smiled. "Senorita is a 'Bureau Girl', then?"

"I guess you would know," AJ looked around. "Seems to be a fair number of government employees in here."

"Right," Inez smiled slightly. "So, how do you like it with Senor Chris and his team?"

"It could be worse, I suppose," AJ smiled shyly. "They are all very good men."

"That, they are," she agreed. Soon, Inez left to fulfill their drink orders and attend to her other customers.

"Ms. Johnson," Ezra studied her from his seat across from Josiah. "You appear to have a distracted expression. May I enquire as to the reason?"

"Hm? Oh, um, I was just looking around," she straightened.

"It is a nice place," Josiah agreed. "We've spent many a meal here over the years."

"Not all pleasant," Ezra said dryly. Nathan and Josiah nodded in agreement.

There were quite a few times in the past where they had sat through a meal while waiting to hear word of a friend, be it one of them or another.

Some of the time, it didn't turn out well.

There were other times, still, that the company left much to be desired.

Still, this was the team's restaurant and they could usually be found in the restaurant hanging around and joking with whoever was available.

"Howdy, Fellas, Darlin'," Buck ambled over, swinging an empty chair around to straddle it.

"Hey, Buck," Nathan turned to watch Chris stroll toward them, talking to a younger man. "Who's that Chis is talking to?"

"Actually," Buck glanced back. "Says his name is Blake Allen."

Ezra didn't miss AJ turning to look or the recognition that crossed her face. "Ms. Johnson, am I correct in assuming that you are familiar with Mr. Allen?"

"Agent," she turned back to him. "Agent Allen transferred into Civil Rights three months ago."

Chris looked up as they came up to them. "Blake Allen, you met Buck. The rest is Nathan Jackson, Ezra Standish and Josiah Sanchez. Johnson, here, seems to go only by AJ," he smiled slightly at her, inviting her to share the joke. It went over her head as she was staring at Allen.

Blake was a good looking kind of guy, if Nathan was any judge. He had artfully tousled black hair and pretty green eyes. He was maybe a bit taller than Vin, though a little bulkier. Nathan wasn't sure what she thought was cute, so…

Blake immediately spotted her and smiled widely. "Ms. AJ!" he gave her a once over. "Boss'll be happy to know that you're being taken care of over here."

"Hello, Agent Allen," she seemed to be almost tolerant of him. Well, she didn't seem to be as distant with him as she was with them.

"I told you," he smiled slightly. "I'm not going to beat you up if you called me 'Blake'."

"Yes, sir," she lifted a shoulder.

"See what I have to put up with?" Blake chuckled as he turned to the others. "Maybe you boys could help a guy out and help AJ here learn to play with others. Not that she's terrible to work with or anything," he hastily added. "She's a true diamond that needs to be polished by careful hands. It's just that Lowe's been piling on the work for her and I'm concerned that she isn't handling it as well as she could be."

"Don't you worry about that, Pard," Buck assured. "We'll take good care of her. Why, we'll be so careful that she'll go back as pretty as one of them diamonds."

"Mr. Allen," Ezra frowned. "Correct me if I am mistaken, but… Are diamonds not one of the hardest type of gem in the world?"

Josiah nodded. "It takes a lot to break a diamond."

"Not if one knows how to," Blake noted. He snagged a chair and dropped into it. "Hope you don't mind, but I have orders to have lunch with AJ at least once a week."

"Well, we weren't expecting you," Nathan frowned. "Chris, wasn't it going to be just the eight of us?"

"That was the plan," Chris sighed. "But if Lowe's behind this, then I guess we'll just have to make do."

"I really am sorry," Allen apologized. "I've just been really busy this past week and just saw my chance and took it."

Once Inez had taken their drink orders again, Buck leaned toward Allen. "So, anythin' we need to be keepin' an eye out for with her?" he nodded at AJ, who seemed to take no interest in the conversation.

"Not that I can think of," he shook his head. "Although, if you ever need to send something to a girl," he grinned, "AJ's the one to go to."

"Might want to keep that in mind, Brother," Josiah grinned at Buck.

Vin and JD got there a few minutes later, just as Inez started dropping off food.

"So, you work with AJ?" JD questioned.

"Yup. She's very good at what she does," Allen nodded.

"We know. She's been a big help with some of the paperwork."

"Boys," Vin piped up. "She _is_ sittin' right here, ya know."

AJ looked up from her salad. "That's okay," she shrugged.

Chris glanced around. This wasn't the lunch he had planned on. Watching Allen, he frowned slightly. Maybe if he could eat lunch with AJ first thing next week, the team could try again next Friday.

It was a quiet lunch, though.

Blake Allen seemed to be an alright guy. For a Fed. But it was interesting, the way he kept watching AJ. Someone would think he liked her.

Buck even joked about it back at the office.

"Seems like you got someone sweet on you, Darlin'," he grinned as she settled back behind her desk.

She blinked. "I don't get that from him," she said, almost to herself. "I always thought it was because he thinks he needs to protect me or something."

Buck wasn't convinced.


	9. Saturday, June 4, 2011

The day of the Secretary Swap Auction was upon them and everyone was getting ready. Even the most reluctant of participants.

"Now, kid," Buck scolded. "We gotta look nice for all these pretty ladies that'll be hangin' around."

"But why do _I_ need a haircut?" he complained, dragging his feet.

Josiah chuckled, having invited himself along. "Now, Brother JD. Won't Sister Johnson be surprised to see us all dressed up for support?"

"I'd think she'd be surprised to see us there at _all_," he grumbled.

Buck held the door open to Star Struck, a new place that opened up about a year ago. Buck had been there once or twice before, but the price range was well within his limit and the staff were all nice folks. "Kid, we all said we'd be there and be there we will be."

The three of them walked into the waiting room that held eight chairs, a magazine rack, a small television and a small area that held nine drying chairs, four of which were in use.

"Nice place," JD looked around.

Buck walked up to the reception desk and rang the little bell. "Anybody home?"

JD and Josiah found seats near the wall and settled in as a tall, curly haired blonde stumbled up to the desk.

"Oh, hi, yes. We're open," she smiled brightly, green eyes studying them. Her name tag read 'Gia'.

"Yeah, the kid needs a trim and I need a touch-up, as well."

"Oh, sure. Yeah, you two can come on back."

JD jumped up and followed Buck to the back where four women were also getting their hair done.

Gia set them up before moving back to her station where her own client waited for the next step. JD was across from them and was admiring the handmade sign proclaiming the station as Gia's, when his eyes fell to the brunette being worked on.

She had pretty brown hair that fell almost to her elbows. She had obviously just had a shampoo and wash and her hair was dripping slightly as it covered her face. In fact, the only thing he could see of her face was a pair of… familiar… grey…

"AJ?" he grinned at her. "You come here, too?"

"Huh?" Gia turned as Buck added his own greeting. "You all know each other?"

"Oh, sure," Buck smiled widely. "Why, Darlin' here is the reason why we're goin' out to this thing."

"Oh, the Swap?" Gia smiled knowingly. "Yes. I've been hearing about that all week, let me tell you. AJ, I didn't know you were put in the Swap."

"Oh, yeah," JD nodded. "She was put with us by accident. But, see, we already think of her as part of the team until she gets put back with her regular office."

"I see," Gia nodded. "Well, good luck, huh, AJ?"

"Thanks," she smiled slightly.

As Buck watched the two, he started to notice that the way AJ acted with Gia was more relaxed than her interactions with the Landon twins and the other two girls, but even with them, she was starting to let close. Then JD would contribute to the conversation and AJ would go back to being their distant co-worker.

Buck noticed and Gia noticed. But only one of them knew what it really meant.

Once Gia had finished, AJ had a trim and smiled at her. "Same time next month?"

Gia winked "You know it." She waited until AJ had rounded the corner and Josiah could be heard greeting her, before green eyes looked around. "You know," she said conversationally. "AJ has been my regular since we opened. I had not known anyone in Denver and I was out of my comfort zone. AJ helped me out a lot and I wish I could do the same. I'd like to think we're closer than stylist and customer, but I really don't know. But you two… I think there's a potential for a real friendship."

"Do you give all her co-workers that speech?" Buck joked.

"No," she shook her head. "Not all her co-workers are nice people."

"Well, that _is_ what happens in government agencies," JD pointed out. "Not all people are nice."

"Or appear to be," Buck added. "Well, either being nice or not, mostly it's a front."

Gia gave him a disbelieving look. "Not all of it."

Arina could admit to not being in on the latest style in dresses, but under no circumstances were Jodie and Josie Landon allowed to pick her dresses again, especially after the Thanksgiving debacle.

But, they apparently wanted to supervise, so that how she, Tammy and the twins all ended up at the mall exactly four hours before the Auction.

The latter three had already gotten theirs over the course of the week, but Arina had been so busy that she kind of forgot about all of it.

But store after store, they couldn't find anything.

"Don't worry, Rini," Tammy wrapped an arm around her best friend. "There's got to be _something_ here you could like."

Josie frowned thoughtfully. "Hey, sis. Remember that store?"

"Good thinkin', Si," Jodie snapped her fingers. "Never been in, but I'm sure there's some dressy stuff for you."

The twins led the way up the stairs – again – and past the upstairs food court. They hung a left at the potted tree and found themselves in front of large bay windows. It was actually a nice looking store, Supernova.

Evidently, whoever came up with the name probably had an unhealthy fixation with Astronomy or too much to drink. But, either way, Supernova seemed to be a popular store as far as the four could see.

Men and women of all types were scouting the racks, looking for something that called to them.

There was an area in the middle of the store that people could sit and pass the time, big viewing windows let them people watch.

Jodie led the way to the middle space to plan their attack.

One of the things that the twins taught them was to list any target colors. The first colors were the ones that looked good. The secondary colors were what you were partial to.

"Alright, ladies," Josie found seats facing each other. Giant foam blocks were put everywhere, paired with either regular chairs or beanbags. "Arina needs colors. Dark colors."

"Green," Tammy offered.

"Maroon," Jodie ticked off a finger.

"Blue," AJ put in.

"Yeah," Josie eyed Arina. "Blue _does_ look – " she did a double take. "Johnson? What're you doing here?"

"Here specifically or here in Denver?" she asked dryly.

"You're here for the Auction, then?" Arina smiled slightly. Their FBI friend was perched right next to her. No one had seen her sitting there because of the magazine she'd been reading in front of her face.

"Yeah," AJ fiddled with the corner of the magazine.

"Well, well," Jodie grinned. "More the merrier." She waved her over. "We can do something for you, too."

Tammy frowned suddenly. "Does anyone else feel like we're being watched?"

AJ glanced at her. "Look over my left shoulder and tell me if you see someone looking in our direction."

The four of them looked behind her and it was Tammy that spotted the pair of black eyes narrowed in their direction, peering over a nearby foam block.

"There," she pointed.

"Usually, she's not this transparent," AJ noted, smiling slightly. "Jackie, there's a thing called 'stalking'."

"I am not!" Jackie shot up, revealing spiky black hair cropped close to her head. Black eyes shot fire as she stomped over. "I was just looking out for you, is that a crime?"

"Guys, this is Jackie Rivers," AJ waved at her. "She's kind of possessive."

Jodie exchanged looks with her twin as Arina gave the new arrival a once over.

Jackie Rivers wore the female employee's uniform of light blue polo and dark brown capris. She seemed to be AJ's height, which also put her at Arina's eye level. On Jackie's left wrist was a blue wristband with the Supernova name on it, as a few of the other visible employees were wearing.

Tammy tilted her head. "Are you AJ's best friend? You sort of act like it."

"Hm? Oh, what? You think AJ's special?" Jackie huffed. "Well, let me tell you something: she's really not."

"Jackie's always acted like she's everyone's best friend," AJ shrugged. "Hang around long enough and you'll get the same treatment."

"I doubt that, somehow," Josie murmured to her twin, who nodded thoughtfully. Speaking up, she entered the conversation. "So, since Johnson here's looking for her own dress, she'll be hangin' out with us as we're looking for Ari's."

"But you _would_ look nice in blue," AJ told Arina.

"I can see that," Jackie turned an assessing eye on the Japanese American. "But, as for AJ, of course – "

"Would you just give it a rest for today?" AJ rolled her eyes. Arina was sort of surprised, though, because AJ didn't usually give any of the other girls this behavior. "I told you. Whatever is driving this obsession with seeing me in teal, it's going to be a long while before I comply."

"But that isn't no," Jackie cheerfully pointed out. By the sounds of it, the pair have had this conversation before…

In any case, she immediately got down to business as she circled Arina, making her feel exposed to black eyes. "Alright," she made her third circle and turned to AJ. "Give me a minute and I'll get back to you."

She came back a few minutes later with a few dresses of varying styles.

Arina and the other three were directed to a fitting room – one of many scattered throughout the floor apart from a main group located along the walls – as AJ followed Jackie to locations unknown.

After trying three dresses and modeling, Arina looked over the last two dresses.

Jodie poked her head inside the curtain. "Try that purple one," she ordered. "Give me the pastel and the green one. We'll keep those and get Rivers to put those back and get different colors of these with the style of that purple one."

Frankly, Arina sort of liked the purple one. Oh, it wasn't as daring as the others, but she was partial to the flower print.

When she came out again, AJ was sitting out with the others, a bag already at her side.

"Johnson ain't lettin' us see until tonight," Josie wrinkled her nose with distaste.

"Why not?" Tammy defended. "She can let us see along with everyone else if she wants to."

"**But I want to see**," the twins chorused.

"But the Auction isn't far away now," AJ pointed out.

"So, what are _you_ still doin' here?" Josie eyed her.

"It won't take much," AJ waved her off.

"I think you're perfect the way you are," Jackie piped up adoringly, appearing off to their right. "Wow, Ari," she looked her up and down. "You wear that really nice."

"S'alright," Jodie circled her.

"But AJ's the one we need to focus on," Arina protested. "Her and the rest of the Bureau Girls are the focus on tonight's stage."

"Don't mean ya cain't look nice," Josie advised. "C'mon, Ari. How long you known us already?"

"So, AJ," Tammy turned to her. "Are you nervous for tonight?"

"Not really," she lifted a shoulder. "I've done more nerve-wracking things."

"Like what?" she was sorry she asked as AJ looked away, but not before Tammy caught a look she was hard-pressed to name.

After a half hour, the twins shuffled AJ off for her grand appearance.

Chris had only been to an Auction once and that had been when he had first joined the Agency.

He hadn't been back since and he now remembered why.

He had swung by to pick Vin up and they followed the torchbearers to a parking spot. The sniper had never actually been to one, so this was a new experience for him.

The pair got out and hurried to join the crowd already heading in. Volunteers handed out programs at the door after a quick security pass through.

"There they are!" the two heard JD before they saw him, ducking past a group of secretaries to get to them. Nathan, Ezra, Josiah and Buck followed at a more sedate pace.

"Almost an hour until the festivities begin," Ezra informed them, straightening his already immaculate green vest.

'Nathan had been right,' Chris and Nathan grinned at each other. 'He really _could_ have been a riverboat gambler.'

It was something of a joke that had started their first New Year's Eve celebration as a team, when the green vest had first appeared as a gift from his mother.

JD was looking around at every one and thing as more people started arriving. "It looks like almost everyone is here from the building!"

"Wouldn't surprise me, kid," Buck poked him. "It _is_ a company event, after all." There were a few agents who apparently had no other plans or were tweaking some details on upcoming busts.

"Hey, d'you think AJ's here yet?" JD questioned. She had apparently decided to meet them there, even though the guys had offered to drive her.

"She should," Josiah glanced at his watch. "At least the first twenty five should have been here by now. The first half of the Auction kicks off soon."

Technically, the team could have waited to arrive until later, but they didn't do things by halves. That meant that if their teammate was going to be up on stage three hours before they needed to get there, then three hours early they would be. It was just what the team did to show their support and Chris hoped AJ understood that they counted her as one of their own until their time came to an end.

But even so, Chris hoped she kept in touch with them when she went back to the Bureau. It was something of a habit to keep track of their former people. Well, the ones they got along with. Since AJ was in a position so close to them, Chris knew their experience would be fondly remembered for years to come.

But, again, they needed to find a connection with her, first.

"Look," JD pointed. "It's Mrs. Travis."

The others looked to see the blonde newspaperwoman heading in their direction.

"There you boys are," she smiled warmly at her father-in-law's elite team. "Here for someone in particular?"

"Yeah, AJ Johnson," JD piped up, bouncing in place. "Have you met her yet? She's awesome."

"She must be if she's got _all_ of you here," Mary gave Chris a knowing look. He gave a shrug in response.

Josiah looked around. "Quite a crowd for the Secretary session," he noted.

"Well, yes," Mary nodded. "If you look in the program, you can see that anyone can be invited to stay. There will be sandwiches after the first half, so that everyone can get to better know the secretaries on offer. After that, then the Agents have their turn."

The entire program was set to end at midnight with 'dinner' served at nine. It was almost seven, now.

Nathan nodded before he spotted the four secretaries that AJ had befriended coming toward them. "Good evening, girls," he greeted when they got closer.

"Jackson," one of the twins gave him a once over. The big black bow in her hair complemented the red a black dress she wore. The other one had on a dark green hat set at an angle, her green dress matched. Arina had on a pretty blue dress as Tammy dazzled in purple.

"Mrs. Travis," Tammy meekly spoke up. "I think… I mean, do you know what order the Girls are in? Because it's not alphabetical by any name, unless AJ's middle name is Z…"

"No," Mary crossed her arms as Arina and the twins brandished their own copies. "I was led to understand that the order they have been listed is the order in which they had their names drawn in the Raffle."

That had clearly been the wrong answer as the four stared at her, then back down at their books before looking at each other in something approaching disbelief.

One twin gave a low whistle as the other shook her head.

"Johnson _wasn't_ kiddin' when she said last minute," she mused, handing the program to JD, a painted fingernail tapping it.

Mary looked down at her own as the boys looked over shoulders.

JD shook his head. "What are we looking at, exactly?"

"The names of all the Girls on tonight," Arina told him. "Look on the last page."

Vin was already flipping through, frowning deeper as AJ's name eluded him. Then again, he didn't actually know what her real name was, but many of the Girls were going by nicknames, too. After it was clear that AJ wasn't in the first ten, the second ten, or the third ten, JD looked up.

"She _is_ in here, right?" he asked anxiously.

"Keep lookin'," a twin advised.

Buck whistled as he looked over Vin's shoulder, the Texan coming to the last page. "Number 51. AJ Johnson," Buck read.

"She's the very last one?" Nathan frowned.

"What a way to make a girl feel good about herself," Mary shook her head.

"Chris," Buck looked up at him. "Just what kind of screw-up was this?"

"Human error, I think," the blond sighed. No wonder the girl didn't make an effort to connect with them. He wouldn't either, if he'd been placed with a team that didn't want a secretary in the _first_ place as a result of a screw-up that happened at the very last minute.

"Johnson ain't exactly lucky, is she?" one of the twins shook her head.

The boys all looked at each other. Now, they were determined to get through to her. No one should have to be picked last at anything and they _definitely_ didn't deserve getting placed with a team that constantly reminded her that her time was numbered on top of that.

She was probably thinking that they didn't want her near them, but that wasn't true. She very likely thought that connecting was overrated when she wouldn't be with them for long.

Chris was glad they knew now just how upsetting this must be for her. Being constantly reminded that she was temporary must also be hitting a nerve. Now that the boys knew something about this, they could now react in a fitting manner.

That didn't quite mean to mob the poor thing when she got there twenty minutes later.

JD immediately grabbed her for a comforting hug. "We don't think you're the last of anything," he told her.

"Yeah, Johnson," one of the twins nodded. "Best for last and all."

"We saw the program," Tammy showed AJ. "You were picked last and everything."

"Yup," AJ shrugged. "Somebody had to be."

"Kinda cavalier about this, aren't you?" Nathan frowned.

"I'm used to it."

The call came for the secretaries to go in and the quartet left, Mary after them.

"I don't think you need to be here, yet," Buck told AJ.

"I didn't want to sit around waiting," she told him.

"I can understand that," JD added. "It's terrible just waiting for something like this."

The few other agents already there were heading to the little snack bar that would close before the end of the first half. The eight members of Team Seven headed there, too.

It was as Josiah was watching AJ beside him that he finally realized what was different about her.

"You look nice, Sister," he rumbled.

She blinked up at him before glancing down at herself. "Oh, yeah. Thanks, Agent Sanchez."

"Oh, you do!" JD agreed.

The blue dress had a mandarin collar and the sleeves came almost to elbow length. Her hair was up in a fancy twist, though she still wore her glasses.

Chris nodded thoughtfully. "Look better without the glasses," the words were out before he knew it and winced. He – of them all – should have known better than to critique a woman's appearance.

To his surprise, she didn't puff up in injured offense.

"It's best to know what you're in for," she sagely advised. "I don't wear lenses that much. Don't give the image of being something you're not." Chris noted that she seemed to be quoting someone and wondered who before shoving that in a corner and returning to the conversation.

Tammy sighed as Secretary 13 hopped off the stage to amble over to… Tammy had seen her before, but couldn't remember that woman's name to save her life.

Arina seemed to be interested, but Tammy knew better. The twins weren't even trying or pretending to. They were whispering about… family gossip, Tammy noted.

She looked around to see various states of interest – or lack thereof. Probably because they were waiting for whomever they had already marked. Like her, Rini and the twins.

Becky Worth was a few rows to her left, but also seemed to be waiting for someone.

It seemed like forever before the last few were being called up.

Singles or groups of ATF girls clustered around their prize(s), and it was a good thing that more than one could make a claim.

As soon as number 50 walked off the small stage, Tammy straightened. She would be the first to make a bid, then the others if she was contested.

Josie had predicted an easy buy and it really did look that way, but Jodie had said that everyone knew that they had staked the first claim by including AJ in their lunches.

"… and as a very special addition to our ATF family, AJ Johnson. Now, AJ here, has been placed with Agent Larabee's Team Seven. Normally," the announcer – this year Daphne deLise, a real sweetheart at the office – adjusted her papers, "we only have just fifty girls. Unfortunately, there was an incident and we gained an extra.

"However, we are pleased to welcome her – as we would any of her Sisters – and would do anything to make her feel at home with us. As we are aware, each of us has had to fill out a questionnaire before the Raffle in case any of us were picked. AJ – through uncontrollable events – had not had that chance. So, I took the liberty of having a sit down with her yesterday to come up with some answers.

"Her favorite colors are blue and forest green; she has no known allergies to pets or any of the usual pests outside. She has a dislike for quite a number of vegetables, but cannot easily ingest oranges. She has a wonderful sense of humor and a friend when you need one. She is a hard worker and a beautiful person. Anything you need her to do or help with, there is not a doubt in my mind that she'll do it.

"Why don't we start with our usual five dollars?"

Tammy, Becky and a handful of others raised their hands.

"Ten dollars?"

Arina was the only thing that changed in that response.

A few bids later, the quartet and Becky were the only ones left.

"Well, AJ," Daphne the announcer threw her a smile. "You've already cast quite the spell on our audience."

Tammy glanced at the twins and blinked as she found them glaring at Becky.

Both Tammy and Arina knew that the pair were competitive, but the strength of the Becky aimed glare startled Tammy. But while that may have startled her, Tammy was downright shocked at the smirk on Becky's face. It almost seemed like Becky was taunting them as she raised her hand for another bid.

Jodie's hand shot up as well.

When the bidding finally reached seventy, all of the other girls were paying attention to the strange competition.

"Maybe you should give up," one of the nearest girls advised Tammy. "Becky's not going to be happy."

"Who cares?" Josie hissed from the corner of her mouth.

"Alright," Daphne took the podium once more. "I'm afraid we're nearing our limit."

"I'll go for two hundred, Daphne," Becky fluttered her eyelashes.

"I say two-oh-five," Jodie announced. "The four of us can split."

"Two-oh-nine," Josie added.

Arina didn't take to many people easily, but those she did had yet to regret it. She straightened. "Two-fifteen," she glanced at the twins, who beamed in approval.

"Two-twenty-five," Becky countered, confident of her win.

Her smug tone had never sat well with Tammy, but even more so now.

AJ was Tammy's friend, not Becky's. Tammy could only imagine what Bully Becky – as Tammy thought of her as – would do to someone as nice as AJ and AJ just didn't deserve anything like that.

"Three hundred," Tammy resolutely stared up at AJ on stage, who seemed both fascinated and puzzled at the same time. The redhead wasn't sitting close enough to tell for sure, but she could swear that AJ's expression turned to relief.

"Ladies, we have gone past the limit," Daphne protested. "Even so, I am going to have to say that Tammy, Jodie, Arina and Josie have gotten their wish."

The four grinned in victory, the twins letting out a whoop. Tammy noted Becky rolling her eyes, before taking a call. There was just something off, here, Tammy just didn't know what.

"Hey, Johnson," Josie hooted, grabbing the smaller girl as she got close enough. "Sorry for the wait."

"I don't like Becky, either," AJ ruefully admitted.

"Nobody does," Jodie sniffed, eying the other. Becky was still on the phone, but she seemed to be relaxing. Tammy hadn't even realized until then that Becky was anxious.

She was still puzzling over it as the five finally left to follow the crowd of other girls.

Those who immediately left had other plans, but even with them gone, there was still an impressive number to mingle with all the agents that had arrived while the secretaries had their part of the Auction.

Tammy had seen all the agents in the building dressed for various reasons at one time or another, but this event ensured that everyone dressed to impress.

And Tammy really was, indeed.

Especially Team Seven, who – by all rights – didn't really need the clothes to look good, but they made a _very_ nice image all told.

Buck spotted them first. "So?" he looked to AJ.

"They won," she reported. "Against Rebecca."

"Who's Rebecca?" JD frowned at her.

"I believe Ms. Johnson is referring to Ms. Worth," Ezra pointed out.

"That's Rebecca," AJ agreed.

"She don't like her full name," Josie told her. "Don't know why, but she don't."

"And Becky didn't seem to want to let us win," Arina added to Josiah. "Daphne gave her to us."

"…I sort of feel like some kind of pity prize," AJ mused.

"Well, you ain't," Jodie reassured. "I don't see why there's a limit on how much we can give these people. Figured they'd be happy to get so much."

"Well, now, Sister," Josiah spoke up. "There is a reason for that."

"Especially in this economy," Buck added. "Probably don't want to make it seem like we're being tapped."

"But the agents have a five hundred dollar limit," Arina pointed out. "Especially since a lot of the agents seemed to be grouping together."

"Sharing _is_ pretty popular," JD noted.

"They go half on one," Nathan explained. "Then they can pool together for another if they want."

"The girls would still have to do things for the ones who bought them in the first place," Josie sighed.

Mary grinned as she walked up to them. "Congratulations," she told the quartet.

"Aw, shucks, Miz Travis," Jodie played coy. "Ain't nothin' we couldn't handle."

"Well, Becky didn't seem happy at first," Mary recalled. "Then she took that call and seemed to relax."

"Don't get why she was so tense to start with," Josie shook her head. "I get the feelin' she don't like Johnson."

"Why not?" JD tilted his head as the crowd headed to dinner. "It's hard to figure that anyone doesn't like AJ."

"She could lighten up a mite," Vin suggested.

"Don't I know it," Jodie huffed, elbowing the brunette in question, who seemed to be off in her own world. "What _did_ you do to Becky?"

"Don't know," AJ came back to herself.

The team picked up their preferred sandwiches, chips and sodas before finding a table. They invited the girls to eat with them since AJ was already considered as part of the team.

Buck immediately tucked his napkin into his shirt and dug in.

"They want to make a good impression," Buck flicked a glance at Arina as she was talking to AJ, who was looking around. "It's a little late, yeah, but it's supposed to make you feel like you're one of us."

"Yeah, Johnson," Jodie called from Buck's other side. "You feel like one of us, yet?"

"No."

"Well, don't just answer," JD encouraged, taken aback at her quick answer. "Take a minute to think about it."

"Don't rush her now," Josie added.

"Buck!"

The group turned to see Becky being escorted by Arnie Westover.

"Well, Good evenin', Ms. Becky," Buck smiled his most charming. "Havin' a good time tonight?"

"Now that I've seen you, I am," she fluttered her eyelashes.

The twins rolled their eyes at her, well used to this behavior by now, as Tammy and Arina sighed.

"Gentlemen," Arnie gave a nod. "Good luck tonight."

"You, too," JD grinned. "Hope whoever you bid on is someone you win."

"Who will you be bidding for, anyway?"

"Well, my hope is to spend some time with your new friend," Arnie smiled easily.

"Well, now," Nathan grinned. "Looks like some of us have some competition, don't we, fellas?"

"Hm?" Buck blinked, turning from Becky. "Competition for who?"

"Agent Westover's going to be bidding for AJ, too," JD answered.

"He is?" Buck glanced at the agent in question, who gave him a challenging smile. Buck well remembered finding AJ caged into a corner by Arnie and frowned. He knew from experience that a woman was desirable because of many factors, but to someone like him and Arnie, a woman who was the most desirable was the one who appeared to have no interest at all.

AJ was the absolute _perfect_ challenge. Buck felt his eyes narrow thoughtfully. He knew well that he backed off when a woman showed no interest at all. The way Arnie was smiling at AJ, however, made Buck frown.

AJ was concentrating on her food as she gave him a small smile. Everything about her said that she wasn't interested. Arnie was fighting a losing battle with AJ, which was very different from Buck's own interactions with Inez. Inez, at least, looked amused by his attempts to court her.

Buck was seeing AJ giving Arnie polite attention – which was kind of normal from what Buck could see about AJ at this point. There was no interest there at all.

That, of course, didn't mean that she wouldn't eventually take Arnie up on that offer…

For some reason, Buck had a bad feeling about him.

"Hope the best man wins, then," Buck returned the challenge.

Arnie frowned for a few seconds before smiling in a manner that made Buck even more distrusting. "I accept your challenge."

"Guys, AJ's sitting right here," JD looked from one to the other. "I don't think she likes being talked about like that."

"Like what?" Becky was also following the conversation. The smile on her face didn't seem to reach her eyes…not that all but one paid attention.

"Well, like she was public property," JD shrugged. "Where she doesn't get a say in anything."

"She doesn't, now, does she?" Arnie smirked. "Not in this case, anyway."

"He has a point, Agent Dunne," AJ finally spoke. "It's an Auction. I go to the highest bidder, remember?"

Arnie gave Buck a smug look that ruffled him even more.

Buck was about to say something when an idea hit and he leaned back with a smile. "Darlin' may be right, there, Arnie. The question is, however, how high are you willin' to go?"

"As high as it takes," came the prompt answer. "And you?"

"I've been known to get what I want," Buck lifted a shoulder. "Just takes the right amount of effort, is all, and it's mine for the taking."

"I should say, Wilmington," Arnie's eyes had an odd look to them. "We _do_ have that in common."

"Then how come you guys don't like each other?" JD had to ask.

"Competition," Nathan put in. "Buck don't like others on his turf."

But there was something else to the story. If only Buck could figure out what that something _was_.

Another minute later, Becky spied one of her acquaintances and reluctantly tore herself away from the group as Arnie was called over by the rest of his team.

"Well, Ms. Johnson," he smiled charmingly. Buck wrinkled his nose at the slimy smirk. "I hope to have the opportunity to get to know you better." He raised her hand to his lips, brushing them lightly over he knuckles before releasing her and bidding the others a good luck as he left.

"Wow, AJ," JD grinned. "Looks like he really likes you."

"May as well give him a date, Johnson," Josie shook her head. "He won't leave you be."

"We got standards," Jodie agreed. "But he don't come close to meeting them. Or Tam's or Rini's. Seems to have a thing for you, though."

"They won't let us stay around him for long," Arina shrugged. "He's not someone who I would date, either."

Meanwhile, Buck was still stewing over the challenge, deciding to go all out just to be able to rub it in the man's face. A tap on his arm brought his attention to Vin, who smiled slightly at him and tilted his head at AJ.

Buck turned to her just in time to see her use the edge of the white table cloth that covered the tables to wipe the back of the hand Arnie kissed. Then, she produced a small bottle of hand sanitizer, her nose wrinkled in distaste.

Buck glanced at Vin again, who frowned, curious. Buck shrugged at him. 'Well,' he mused, going back to his chips. 'I guess she really ain't interested in him.'

Arnie, though, was interested in _her_, but her disinterest didn't seem to register.

Buck never could stand a man who didn't understand that 'no' was 'no'. Right then and there, he resolved to go as high as he could go to keep AJ away from that snake.

Chris looked around at all the other agents that had showed up. A good few of them turned up every year like clockwork.

His green eyes scanned the program as the Auction began.

The only difference between the first and second halves of this thing was that the secretaries had a two hundred and thirty dollar limit. Since the agents had higher pay, their limit was five hundred.

He noted the female agents all clustered together, vaguely remembering them saying that they were going to bid as a group. He guessed that they would get at least two secretaries, bidding permitting.

'Arnie' was a few rows from them and seemed to be engrossed in his phone. Many of those invited to the event sat in the back, someone having reserved rows for them.

All of the other secretaries had left for the night to deal with other plans. Well, almost all of them. Chris spotted Becky Worth in the very back. Now, he had nothing against the woman, but he did think that she didn't have enough work to do if she kept showing up to hang out with Buck, who didn't need any more distraction than he already had.

Once an agent – or team – had a secretary, they had the option of staying or leaving. A good number of them decided to leave, since they had other plans. And they weren't required to stay for the entire session. As the girls were called out, Chris saw the room start to empty.

Oh, there was a sizable number left to make sure that all the girls were claimed, but the room looked decidedly less crowded by the time they reached forty.

As they got closer to AJ's number, the boys started paying attention to the proceedings.

Chris saw a few others start to pay attention as well and watched Buck give them an assessing glance. 'Looks like he was serious about winning Johnson," Chris had to smile.

"This is sure to be interesting," Josiah leaned over to grin. "Brother Wilmington seems fit to be tied."

"He _does_ seem unusually attentive," Nathan leaned into Chris' other side. "Maybe him and Johnson bonded and we didn't know about it."

"That don't explain what Buck has against him," Chris tilted his head over in Westover's direction. "Seems Buck's got it in for him for some reason or another."

"Maybe Westover got someone to go out with him that Buck had an eye on for himself," Nathan mused. "They're both Ladies' Men."

As Buck's oldest friend, Chris thought that made sense. Another part of Chris, however, thought that there was something else going on. He thought back to a few days previous.

Buck had been talking to her about having problems and coming to them if she needed help.

Chris also remembered Ezra cornering Buck a little later and asking him what Westover had been doing on their floor to begin with, as his team leader had been trying to find him.

The blond frowned, putting the pieces he had together and not quite liking the picture he was getting.

If Westover was making trouble for AJ, and Buck was aware of it, then Chris would usually sit back and keep an eye on things.

Then again, he had never heard of any problems from the other women that Westover had dated and Buck may not like him for whatever reason. But Buck didn't seem like he wanted AJ for himself.

So, Chris was brought back to his first thought.

Westover was being a problem for AJ and Buck didn't like it. Chris knew that there were ways to get around the rules. If Westover had his way, AJ would be stuck with him and be obligated to do what he wanted – regardless of the ground rules of the Auction.

Westover didn't seem like that kind of guy, but Chris could see where Buck was coming from. If Buck or anyone else won AJ, then she would be as good as safe from Westover. But Chris knew that Buck would worry over the brunette if anyone else got her, as the big-hearted Ladies' man was known to do when someone he cared about was out of his territory and therefore not safe.

So, really, it would be better for all involved if Buck got AJ. If Chris was honest with himself, he could admit to feeling better if that was the outcome. AJ was, after all, under his care. And Chris was glad that Buck was warming up to her. That was a good first step to making a cohesive team.

Chris rejoined reality just as AJ was being introduced.

Green eyes took in her calm attitude, like she'd been the center of attention before and that this was just another thing she had to do. He vaguely wondered what she used to do before joining the Bureau, when the bidding officially started.

It was almost comical the way Buck watched Westover like a hawk, not paying much attention as he bid more than the other man.

"Hey, Buck," JD frowned at him. "Maybe you should let him have AJ," he noted after 200 was reached. Buck and Westover were really the only ones bidding, the others having decided to sit back and watch.

It was nearing 300 dollars that Buck started to falter. Westover seemed to sense victory and made a bid. Buck looked between one and the other – his wallet saying no, but something else saying yes – and didn't seem able to make a decision.

Chris made it for him. "I'll bid with Wilmington," he drawled. "315," Buck shot him a thankful look as Westover upped it.

JD, having decided that Buck was determined to get their newest addition, added his own name with Chris and Buck.

After a while, Vin saw that Chris would back his oldest friend up if he really wanted AJ, so he also added his support.

Westover didn't seem all that upset, but he started to frown when Nathan and Ezra shrugged and put in their money. Not wanting to be left out, Josiah added his contribution.

Later, Chris wouldn't be able to say just how much over the limit they went, but Westover was not happy when Team Seven was announced the winners.

By the time Chris got up that next morning, it finally sunk in.

What the _hell_ did they do?


	10. Monday, June 6, 2011

It was Monday again.

The eight members of Team Seven were seated in their chairs in the conference room.

Seven pairs of eyes – three blue, two green and two brown – sheepishly met grey.

"Well, Darlin'," Buck tried. "We coulda got a mite carried away…"

"Seven hundred dollars," she told him. "Two hundred dollars over the limit and you all paid every cent."

Buck could feel Chris staring at him. "Well, now, I can explain."

"It's not my business to ask why you spent seven hundred dollars on someone assigned to you in the first place. What I want to know is why you think I'm worth seven hundred dollars."

"Everyone is worth something," JD argued. "No matter the price."

AJ didn't look like she believed him. "You could have let Agent Westover win."

"No, we couldn't," Buck insisted.

"Brother," Josiah frowned at him. "You did seem determined and I have to wonder at the motivation behind it."

Buck winced as everyone turned to him, grey eyes turning pensive. "Er, well, I…" he couldn't figure out how to put in words what he felt, at the risk of sounding jealous of Arnie.

"I think the better question," Chris added, "is what are we planning to have her do for us?"

Vin gave him a frown, knowing Chris had to be suspecting something if he changed the subject that fast. His suspicion deepened as Buck shot the blond a grateful look.

But this brought on the problem of now that they had her, what were they going to do with her?

Technically, they all bought her, so she had to do each of them a favor. This, they hadn't thought through when helping Buck.

Chris sighed, studying them each in turn. "Give me something to work with before you leave and we'll work on details later."

There were a few more things to discuss, but they were soon turned out to their own devices.

"You boys are still helping out with the garden, right?" Vin asked, leaning back in his chair.

The section of Denver he lived in – affectionately called Purgatorio – had a vacant lot across the street from his building. After the building on its other side had to be torn down, Vin saw that it was big enough for a community garden.

Sure, they planted some flowers and trees, but the three other buildings on his block had agreed that vegetables would be grown in building groups.

In the garden, there were six long rows broken into sections according to floors. Each family on that floor was responsible for that floor's patch. When it came time to harvest, the building that garden was assigned to was expected to share with each other equally.

"Sure," JD assured. "You can count on me."

The others chimed in with their own confirmations.

Vin nodded thoughtfully. "We can make a team day out of it."

"She's been resistant to all other team activities," Nathan mused, glancing at the door. "If we manage to make it so that our favors get her to hang out with us, maybe we can get her out of her shell."

Because they were sure that she had a personality hidden in there somewhere, but she kept it under lock and key. Even the most stoic in their building had some kind of personality.

"What do you think she's like off the clock?" Josiah asked.

"Josiah, me and Buck saw her Saturday at that Star Struck hair place," JD told the others. "She's even a regular there with her own dresser and everything."

"We don't know what kind of flowers she likes," Buck pointed out. All of the women in the team's lives had a preferred flower. If the guys felt that they needed to apologize for some reason, a dozen of that lady's favorite flowers was a good place to start. Buck didn't know what AJ's favorite flower was and he wanted to rectify this in case they needed to buy her flowers.

One thing the boys all agreed on was that women could get upset over things that guys wouldn't find any problem with. It was a given that they were bound to send AJ in a huff over something and Buck wanted to be sure that they would be ready to make amends.

In order to start getting information about their sole female, they needed to spend some time with her and if they played their cards right, then their favors would ensure that.

Ezra whipped out a small notebook that he used sometimes in the office and wrote down Vin's name and the garden visit on Saturday.

Since they had until the twenty-third – and two weekends -, they needed to knock this out of the way so they could concentrate on work. And they anticipated hanging out with AJ into the future, so they wanted to make sure they had a good friendship with her so that they could all be friends and not feel like they were blackmailing her into hanging out with them.

Nathan took out his small desk calendar. "I have an event Thursday night that Rain can't make it to. I can ask AJ if she'd like to go."

"That new exhibit, right?" Josiah nodded. "I've been meaning to ask you boys if you'd like to volunteer at the Battered Women's Shelter that I help with."

Josiah and Nathan's names went into the notebook along with their plans.

"That leaves Mr. Larabee, Mr. Wilmington, Mr. Dunne and myself," Ezra announced.

"Ain't sure," Buck frowned. Well, he did have one idea, but telling AJ to stay away from Westover would be both near impossible and probably unnecessary as AJ didn't seem to be all that taken with the man in the first place.

"I don't really have anything, either," JD sat back in his chair.

"We got some time," Vin told them, "until she goes."

As they got to their usual routines, none of them saw the thoughtful look on Ezra's face.


	11. Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Tammy frowned as she stared at her desk.

'It's gone,' she closed her eyes. 'Someone took it.'

Fighting back tears, she sat back in her chair and tried to calm down.

'It's okay, Tam,' she sniffed. 'It was time to let go anyway. Just a silly rock.'

But it wasn't just a silly rock…

Arina – of course – chose that time to walk by. "Huh? Tammy? Hey, what's wrong?" she wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"It's gone," she sniffed, tears falling faster. "It's gone, Rini."

The Japanese American's bespectacled eyes travelled to her friend's open desk drawer, to the space where the object would have been had it been there. "Oh, no. Your aunt's pebble. How did it happen?"

"I don't know," she felt her lips tremble. "I thought I locked my desk drawer, but I came back and it was open! Someone took it and I'll never see it again!"

Arina came closer to hug her as hard as she could as Tammy started sobbing.

Looking around to see what she could do, she remembered that Jodie was at an appointment and Josie was having lunch with an old school friend.

Arina honestly had no idea what to do to help her best friend and felt a little sad, too. She knew the story being the pebble and really wanted to help Tammy, but she didn't know what to do. She felt like crying herself.

The pair was so caught up in their feelings that it took them a second to realize that someone was standing next to them, looking from one to the other.

"Oh, AJ," Tammy tried to compose herself, wiping her eyes with her hands, but tears still fell.

The grey eyed brunette handed her a tissue and looked at Arina to explain.

"Something happened to something her great aunt gave her. Tammy keeps it for morale, here at the office," Arina rubbed Tammy's back. "She was sure that she had it locked, but she found her drawer open when she came back from the bathroom."

Tammy sniffed as she looked sadly into her drawer. "It was probably time to let it go, anyway."

"Tammy, no," Arina knelt down beside her. "You know the story behind that pebble. Your great aunt told you every year for your birthday. I'm sure we'll find out what happened to it, one way or another."

"Closure?" Tammy wiped her eyes again. Arina smiled, nodding slightly.

"Yeah, closure." She blinked as she noticed AJ looking around. "AJ? What's the matter?"

She must have found what she was looking for, because she smiled down at them. "Almost no one's around, but I might have an idea. Come with me."

Looking at each other, Arina helped Tammy stand and both followed AJ to the restroom to let Tammy clean up. First, however, Arina made sure that the redhead's desk was locked up tight.

Once Tammy feld presentable, AJ led them down the stairs until they reached Team Seven's floor.

"Jodie was right," Arina smiled slightly. "You really _do_ have something against elevators, don't you?"

The African American had made the observation yesterday afternoon after AJ appeared to join them for a few minutes before heading out to lunch with her FBI teammate. Jodie had said that she had yet to see the 'newbie' use the elevators since she got here. Josie, Arina and Tammy had honestly never thought about it before.

"I find it helps to get some sort of exercise during the day," she told them absently. Her heels clicked along the tiled floor as she led them past the restrooms and to the team's office.

Agent Sanchez was playing a round of solitaire on the computer when they walked in. "Well, good afternoon, Sisters," he looked up with a smile. He took in Tammy's heartbroken expression and stood with a frown. "What seems to be the trouble?"

In his office, Agent Larabee seemed to notice the excitement and went to investigate. "Something going on?"

"Hi, Agent Larabee," Arina shyly waved, always having been in awe of the infamous leader and his team. "AJ's helping us find Tammy's great aunt's pebble."

"It really only makes sense if you know the story," Tammy sunk into Josiah's offered chair.

Agent Dunne suddenly appeared from the breakroom and took in the scene. "What's going on?" he looked uncertainly from Chris to Arina.

"My Great Aunt Amelia," Tammy sighed. "When I was born, she went to her relatives' house in Poland and brought back a pebble. It was something her older sister had picked up one day when she was younger. We shared the same birthday, me and her older sister. My Great Aunt and her family ended up in Auschwitz-Dachau. One day, Aunt Amelia saw that her sister still had her pebble and asked why she had kept it all these years.

"Her sister said that it was a comfort to know that something so small could beat the odds against time and pressure. It was small, but it was still part of the bigger Earth. She also said that they were all part of this bigger thing and that each one of us was like the pebble. And that, a piece could still be missing, but you would know that that piece had been there by things that it had influenced. If we found our stone inside of us, then we would survive against all odds. She gave it to Aunt Amelia and she was gone by the end of the day. Then Aunt Amelia gave it to me because not only was I born on her sister's birthday, but that I also had her spirit. But I'm still not sure I believe that.

"I kept it in my desk because I felt that faith that I could do anything and… well, it's personal to me, but it's not there anymore," Tammy ducked her head, tears starting to fall again.

Arina gave her a hug as the boys let the story sink in.

"But what can we do?" JD wanted to know. "We can file a report…"

"It wouldn't do any good," Arina shook her head sadly.

"Actually, Agent Dunne," AJ finally spoke up. "I was wondering if you could see about getting the footage from the security camera. I noticed while I was there that there was a camera pointing in Tammy's direction."

"That's a good idea," JD nodded, heading for his computer. He hesitated, finally remembering what he was planning to do, and turned to Chris, who nodded but was studying AJ. Wasting no time, JD hacked into the security system and looked to Tammy. "What time am I looking for?" he wanted to know.

"Around two hours ago," she told him.

JD pulled up the camera footage and fast forwarded it until it showed the timestamp being two hours previous. He frowned as he saw no one around Tammy as she went about her business. About twenty minutes later, Tammy stood and headed out, but the camera showed nothing until about five minutes before she returned.

"Uh-oh," JD frowned, absently reaching for his phone. When he got Tech on the line, he said, "This is JD from Team Seven. Yeah. I'd like a confirmation that all cameras in the secretarial pool are up and working." Chris leaned over him, hand on the back of his chair for balance as the others gathered closer. "Yeah," JD went on. "Pool Cam… Nine. Yeah. That's right. Have you – oh. Right. I see. Thanks." JD hung up and sat back with a frown. Turning to the others, he announced, "Cam Nine had some sort of visual issues before Tammy came back. It went out of focus before going black, then it was fine, but the drawer was open when the picture came back."

"Do they know what happened?" Josiah wanted to know, exchanging a look with Chris that said volumes.

"No. Only that there was a problem with visual that went down," the look on JD's face said he was thinking along the same lines as his older teammates.

"So, we don't know who took it," Arina sighed, "or why."

"Not yet," Josiah assured. "We still have to ask the other girls present to see if anyone saw anything."

"A lot of them were out," Tammy told him. "So, I don't think we'll get anything there."

"We'll keep an eye out," Chris told her. As the girls tried thinking of another way, Chris, JD and Josiah stepped to one side. "You boys thinking what I am?"

"Someone messed with the camera," JD frowned. "The timing's too suspicious."

"I agree," Josiah watched the girls. "Someone went in, messed with the camera and stole Tammy's pebble. Why, is the question."

"That may be, but the camera could still have malfunctioned by itself," Chris pointed out. "We're gonna need proof."

"I'll see if I can track where the problem came from," JD suggested.

"See if you can," Chris nodded. As JD joined the girls to tell them what he planned to do, Chris looked at Josiah. "Johnson seems to have made friends, alright."

"Yes, it does," Josiah tilted his head as he watched AJ reassure Tammy. "It looks like she'll be loyal to them. And she honestly hasn't been here that long."

"Maybe we should ask them what they've been doing to her and do something similar," Chris cracked a smile.

But there was something in the back of Josiah's mind that said that there was something else going on. If only he could figure out what that something was...


	12. Wednesday, June 8, 2011

"I just can't believe that someone would stoop so low as to mess with the camera just so someone could steal an obviously personal item from a nice girl like Tammy," Nathan scowled.

"We never did figure it out," JD added.

Buck shook his head in disgust. "And never mind that the camera could have went out by itself. You boys could be right in thinkin' someone screwed with the camera."

Josiah turned to their youngest. "JD, did you have any luck tracking were it came from?"

"Well," he scrubbed a hand through his black hair. "To all intents and purposes, it was a camera failure." But none of them believed that it was that simple.

"We have faith in you, kid," Vin assured him. "You'll figure this out in no time."

"I hope so," JD frowned slightly. He'd made it his mission to find out who stole Tammy's pebble and messed with the camera to do it. The 'why' could be dealt with later, when he found them.

Nathan smiled slightly as he noted the determination in his friend's brown eyes. AJ had involved him and JD would do whatever he could to keep from disappointing her.

"Oh, yeah," he blinked, remembering the upcoming exhibit. Nathan got up and stuck his head out to see AJ just coming out of the small file room attached to her desk area. "Hey, Darlin'. Have a second?"

AJ nodded slightly and sat down expectantly.

Nathan made sure to stop a few feet away from her so that he wasn't looming over her. "About my favor."

"You decided?" she blinked, before turning to her desk and getting out a small planner. Nathan was interested to see her dig out a pen that was black with a rather cool star design. "Alright. I'm ready."

"Tomorrow night at seven thirty," he watched her scribble in her planner. "It's the Rainbow Exhibit at a local gallery."

"I've heard of that," she scribbled down the information before laying the planner and pen aside to look up at him. "It's for the city's 'flexible' artists, isn't it?"

Denver's annual 'Rainbow Exhibit' featured local homosexual artists of all kinds. Donations would be made to local charities and it was a nice way of accepting those with alternative lifestyles who might not be accepted elsewhere. The city's thriving homosexual community just adored those kind of events, but they were not without its own troubles.

Rain had a co-worker who's best friend had a painting at the exhibit and had made plans to go, but her shifts were not co-operating. She had told Nathan to go instead and tell her about it.

"I would normally go with my girlfriend, but her work in the hospital made her cancel the plans. I've been trying to find someone else to go with me because I have an extra ticket, but I do understand that it's not for everyone," he winced as he realized that he was basically ordering her to go with him, no matter what her feelings were on the matter.

"I'm fine with it," she nodded, smiling reassuringly.

Nathan studied her for signs of second thoughts or uncomfortable fidgeting, but she looked him straight in the eye and nodded again.

Deciding to take her word for it, he relaxed and smiled widely. "Great! Thanks for doing this, AJ."

"It's what I can do for you," she lifted a shoulder. "Oh, um, Agent Jackson?"

"Yeah?"

"Agent Dunne was saying something about Agent Tanner having a garden?"

"Oh, yeah. We're going over to Purgatorio this Saturday. Chris was planning to talk to you about it tomorrow."

"Purgatorio…" she gave a curious smile.

"Vin's neighborhood. He's got the Los Lobos there, too."

AJ blinked, absorbing the information before nodding again. "I just need the details."

"You'll get it either tomorrow or Friday," Nathan told her. "And don't worry. Everyone in his neighborhood is really nice, if you don't present a threat. But I don't think we'll be anticipating any problems."

"And tomorrow night?"

Nathan thought about it. "Do you know where the Lisa M. Rider Gallery is? Or, would you rather I drove there with you? It's not too high end, but not too casual."

"I don't mind if you picked me up, but I'm sure it would be out of your way."

"Oh?" he tilted his head. "Why? Where do you live?"

"West Sunset."

He blinked. "That's fifteen minutes from here! But don't you work at the FBI? That's further than the office is. I thought it would make more sense if you had started working here instead."

"Maybe in another life I would have," she smiled wryly.

"That's not out of my way at all. I'll pick you up at seven tomorrow night."

"Do you need directions? I could meet you downstairs in the lobby."

"I think I know where it is, and that's fine."

AJ nodded, making a note in her planner as her desk phone rang. Nathan smiled slightly and left her to it.

He was just settling down at his desk, when Ezra's phone rang.

"_Agent Standish?"_

"Yes, Ms. Johnson?" he asked, looking up from his game of solitaire.

_"Um, I have… she says she's your mother…? Mrs. Standish is on line two."_

"Thank you, Ms. Johnson," Ezra sighed. "I shall take it from here."

His teammates exchanged looks.

Maude Standish was certainly a character, that was for sure.

She had Josiah besotted with her, but her parenting skills had the others less than thrilled. Oh, she was a good person when it counted, but she mostly looked out for Number One. Maude had sort of made a mandatory 'family dinner' outing for the team at least every other visit.

Now, being how Maude was Ezra's mother and all, the team didn't really put up much of a fuss. Ezra had not been amused, but the boys had surprisingly adapted.

Chris had just shrugged and said that it was a different, more 'civilized' version of team night. The fact that Maude had called could either mean an impending visit or Mother-Son Business.

The look on Ezra's face, however, meant a visit was in their future.

Across the desk, Vin chuckled at the Southerner.

His ma was a bit of a Southern Belle, but Vin didn't mind. Sometimes, he wondered if Miz Standish didn't mind their roles in her son's life as much as she pretended to.

His blue eyes drifted back to his screen and he stood to get to the door.

Poking his head out, he blinked as he noted AJ, Tammy, Arina, the twins and two others grouped near the corner leading from the elevator. Curious, he ambled over to them and caught AJ's attention.

"There's Agent Tanner," she noted.

"Wilmington's in there, right?" one of the Landon twins wanted to know.

"Last I checked," he looked from one to the other.

"I'll get him," Arina offered, taking off.

"Did you need something, Agent Tanner?" AJ turned to him.

"Yeah, a file if you get a chance," he eyed the group. "What's going on?"

Arina, Josiah and Buck finally appeared to join them.

"Sisters," Josiah looked them over. "What seems to be the problem with Brother Wilmington?"

"Alice, why don't you tell them," the unfamiliar blonde turned to the redhead.

The redhead was a Bureau Girl, Vin recognized her from the few visitors AJ had when he passed by her desk on the way to the elevator a few times.

"My friend said that Agent Buck Wilmington said something about her and never apologized or anything."

Buck, Vin knew, had never intentionally wronged a woman and didn't apologize for it.

"Who's your friend and what was it that I said about her?" Buck frowned, anxious to make this right.

"Another Bureau Girl," a different – Vin thought it was – Landon told them. "Name's Marcia. She apparently said that you called her… Now, what was it again, Johnson?"

AJ thought for a second. " 'Marcia is a strict girl, but I really don't think she's for me,'" AJ recited.

Alice smiled slightly. "AJ? Could you do that thing with your voice? Please? I haven't heard it in a while."

They all looked at her, curious to see what Alice was talking about. AJ blinked slowly once, twice, then cut a look at Buck, who was just as curious and nodded at her to continue.

AJ sighed and ducked her head for a few seconds before she went to Alice and took her hand. "Marcia, darlin'," Alice couldn't stifle a giggle as the brunette began. "Ya really are the prettiest wildflower in this here garden, but I don't think we'll be able to get what you're intendin'. Now, don't take this the wrong way, but ya ain't for me. I'm more of a – shall we say – loose kinda guy."

The others stared for a few minutes before Vin whistled. "That ain't a bad impression," he grinned.

Buck was staring at her. She'd even gotten his speech pattern down! "That really was pretty neat, Darlin'," he admitted.

The others smiled widely.

"Ya got the man's accent, Johnson," one of the twins hooted with laughter.

Josiah smiled widely at their eighth's apparent talent.

"Wilmington," the other twin frowned at him. "Did you really say that to that poor girl?"

"It _is_ true, though," the blonde whispered to her fellow Bureau Girls.

"Marcia… the one with her hair in a side bun?" Buck frowned slightly. "I met and talked to her a few times, but I don't recall any of that…"

"You wouldn't have had to," AJ told him matter-of-factly. "You know, word gets around and the rumor mill takes it all out of context."

"And then there's the whole 'girls take care of each other,'" Arina pointed out.

"Basically," a twin shrugged. "All it takes is one word near someone and that someone runs with it."

"Amen," Josiah nodded. "Now, Brother Buck, what are you going to do?"

"Get her some flowers and chocolate," he promptly answered. "Then ask her out for an apology."

"And it had better be good," one of the twins sniffed.

"I'll take care of it," AJ told them. "That's sort of part of my job, isn't it? To do what my team tells me to do." Her tone was light, but the other Bureau Girls glanced at her sharply.

"Thanks, Darlin'," Buck grinned. "I'll get my card for you."

"Just hope it'll be enough," one of the twins sighed.

The secretaries lingered for another few minutes, before leaving. AJ walked back to her desk with Vin and Josiah, the latter of which leaving to return to his own desk. She was just handing the file to Vin when Buck returned to give AJ his credit card. Vin headed back to the office as she grabbed the phonebook to start making calls.

Actions


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